Press Conference 14 May 2004

1. Questions concerning Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to Pyongyang, North Korea
2. Questions concerning Mr. Charles Jenkins
3. Follow-up questions concerning Prime Minister Koizumi's visit to Pyongyang

1. Questions concerning Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to Pyongyang, North Korea

   Assistant Press Secretary Jiro Okuyama: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and sorry to have kept you waiting. As I have no announcement to make today, I will be happy to receive your questions.

   Q: I would like to ask you, can you confirm the media reports about whether or not Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is going to Pyongyang next weekend?

   Mr. Okuyama: I am aware of the press reports, but as of this moment, I have no comment to make on this reported visit of Prime Minister Koizumi to Pyongyang.

   Q: Is there any movement behind Prime Minister Koizumi revisiting Pyongyang?

   Mr. Okuyama: What I can say is that we are trying to set up the next venue and date for the intergovernmental consultation between Japan and North Korea, but the dates and the venue have not been decided yet. Beyond that, I have nothing more to say.

   Q: We have heard there are several emergency meetings being held at this moment at the Prime Minister's house. Can we expect any kind of press conference later on from you or maybe from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding this issue?

   Mr. Okuyama: It is something which is related to the Prime Minister's office. If anything comes out of this, I think it will be the Prime Minister's office first which will move on this.

   Q: Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Mitoji Yabunaka said at the Parliament the other day that this issue of a possible visit by the Prime Minister to Pyongyang was raised during the Japan-North Korea talks in Beijing. Is it true?

   Mr. Okuyama: I cannot comment on exactly when or at what specific meeting this issue was raised. On the occasion of the consultation that we had in Beijing with North Korean officials on 4 and 5 May, we had an in-depth and serious discussion being aimed at the resolution of the issue of abduction, but since the talks are supposed to still continue and also, since we have the other party, that is North Korea, we would not at this moment be able to go into the specific details about what we discussed with the North Korean side.

   I may just add in passing that on the question of the return of the family members of the former abductees, five of them who are now back home in Japan, we have no intention to provide something for the return of the family members of those former abductees.

   Q: Is the timing of these talks, if they are to happen, important? I understand people see that North Korea is probably in a more malleable and negotiable position these days than it was a couple of months ago. Is that why all these talks are happening right now, especially with in view to seeing Prime Minister Koizumi in Pyongyang soon?

   Mr. Okuyama: We cannot comment on what are the specific circumstances on the part of North Korea, but after Prime Minister Koizumi's visit to Pyongyang, we have been seeking to solve the pending issues. Our request to the North Korean side has been consistent and also persistent, and we have been always open to consultations with North Korea. It just so happens that they are now ready to engage themselves in more frequent discussions with us.

   Q: If you have no intention of providing anything in return, how are you going to persuade North Korea to return them?

   Mr. Okuyama: What the Prime Minister has been saying is that we will stick to our basic position of solving the issues relating to North Korea on the basis of the Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration which the Prime Minister signed with the North Korean side two years ago. We would like to solve all the pending issues based on the Declaration and then normalize our bilateral ties with North Korea after the resolution of the pending issues.

   Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations)
   
2. Questions concerning Mr. Charles Jenkins

   Q: Regarding the family members of the former abductees, Mr. Charles Jenkins, an American citizen, can he come back to Japan and still stay an American citizen?

   Mr. Okuyama: He is certainly one of the family members of the former abductees, and as such, we certainly would like to seek his departure from North Korea to Japan. It is a question which we are generally considering so whether in this specific case he will be included in the family members that are to come back to Japan is something that we cannot say with any definitive answer at this moment.

   Q: I would just like to follow up on your comment on Mr. Jenkins's status. You said that you cannot say definitively whether he will be included. Does that mean that currently, Japan is not ready to discuss whether Japan is seeking right now the handover of the family members to Japan?

   Mr. Okuyama: As a general category of family members of former abductees of which there are five now back in Japan, he is certainly included because he is a spouse of one of the abductees. At the same time, without giving you any prejudice, the wish of the person himself, I mean the family members, need to be ascertained. So as far as that aspect is concerned, we have to treat this issue with due care and caution. That is not to say that we have any indication from Mr. Jenkins that he wishes or he does not wish to come to Japan. We are just all totally neutral, but as a category of family members, as I said, the family members of abductees, he is certainly one of them.

   Q: So in other words, it is not true or it is not guaranteed whether the eight family members will come back to Japan?

   Mr. Okuyama: I would rather refrain from making any further comment on this.

   Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations)
   
3. Follow-up questions concerning Prime Minister Koizumi's visit to Pyongyang

   Q: Regarding the possible visit by Prime Minister Koizumi to Pyongyang, what is the response given from the side of the United States of America?

   Mr. Okuyama: On and off, we have had and also are having necessary notices and also consultations with the United States, but as for what specific exchanges that we have had or not with the United States on this issue is something we cannot disclose.

   Q: So with Prime Minister Koizumi's visit, can you repeat what Japan's stance right now is in terms of its demands on the abduction issue to North Korea?

   Mr. Okuyama: The top priority for us is to secure the return of the family members of the five former abductees and also we attach importance to the information relating to the number of inquiries that we previously made on those abductees who are said by the North Korean side to be either missing or already dead.

   This we will do in total accordance with the Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration as I have said.

   Q: Is the abduction issue the only issue to be touched by the possible visit or are you expecting other topics?

   Mr. Okuyama: The whole context is, if the visit takes place, I think the Prime Minister has pointed out on a number of recent occasions that the primary purpose is to have discussion to normalize Japan's ties with North Korea by solving all the pending issues in accordance with the Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration. So the entire picture is that. In there we have the utmost priority, that is, to secure first and foremost the release of the family members of former abductees.

   Q: The groups supporting the family members and the former abductees have clearly said in the past that they are opposed to Prime Minister Koizumi's visit to Pyongyang at this moment in this situation. How has the Foreign Ministry been dealing with this and how has it responded? Also, if Prime Minister Koizumi's visit to Pyongyang is materialized, how would you explain to them that that is important to do despite their issues?

   Mr. Okuyama: My understanding is that it was not opposition, I mean, the families of the abductees have not directly opposed the Prime Minister's visit. They expressed certain points of caution against the Prime Minister's possible visit to Pyongyang. It is the Prime Minister's own judgment and decision if he visits Pyongyang, and that is what he has been saying all along for the last several days.

   I think taking into account all these remarks made by the families of the abductees that are based in Japan and also the political circles, the ruling parties and elsewhere, he makes his own decision.

   Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations)