Press Conference, 26 October 2007

Attendance of Mr. Keitaro Sato, Ambassador in Charge of Conflict and Refugee-related Issues in Africa, at the peace talks on the Darfur conflict
Second Round of the Japan-People's Republic of China-Republic of Korea Senior Foreign Affairs Officials' Consultation
Second Technical-Level Meeting of the Four-Party Consultative Unit for the concept of the "Corridor for Peace and Prosperity"
Japan-Republic of Korea Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Consultation
Questions concerning the Union of Myanmar, and the upcoming visit of the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Singapore
Questions concerning the 1973 abduction issue
Questions concerning North Korea

I. Attendance of Mr. Keitaro Sato, Ambassador in Charge of Conflict and Refugee-related Issues in Africa, at the peace talks on the Darfur conflict

Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Four items to introduce. First, Japan has decided to dispatch Mr. Keitaro Sato, Ambassador in Charge of Conflict and Refugee-related Issues in Africa, to the peace talks on the Darfur conflict, to be held in Sirte, Libya starting on Saturday, 27 October. The dispatch is to respond to a request made by the United Nations and the African Union. As the host of the 2008 G8 Summit and TICAD IV (the Tokyo International Conference on African Development), Japan will continue to actively participate in the peace process in Darfur.

II. Second Round of the Japan-People's Republic of China-Republic of Korea Senior Foreign Affairs Officials' Consultation

Mr. Taniguchi: Second, on Sunday, 28 October, Japan, China and Korea will hold the Second Round of the Senior Foreign Affairs Officials' Consultation in Seoul. This consultation will be held based upon the agreement reached at the Seventh Summit of the three countries held in January this year, to discuss and coordinate on major political and diplomatic issues involving the three countries.

Related Information (Press Release)

III. Second Technical-Level Meeting of the Four-Party Consultative Unit for the concept of the "Corridor for Peace and Prosperity"

Mr. Taniguchi: On 24-25 October, the Second Technical-Level Meeting of the Four-Party Consultative Unit for the concept of the "Corridor for Peace and Prosperity" was held at Jordan's side of the Dead Sea. Experts from Israel, Japan, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority participated in this meeting, and held a constructive and detailed exchange of views on various issues related to the development of the concept, based on the results of the First Technical-Level Meeting held earlier, last June.

Related Information (Press Release)

IV. Japan-Republic of Korea Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Consultation

Mr. Taniguchi: Lastly, Japan-ROK (Republic of Korea) Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Consultation has just begun. It will end a couple of hours from now. This is a consultation mechanism both governments hold once every year.

V. Questions concerning the Union of Myanmar, and the upcoming visit of the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Singapore

Q: The Foreign Minister of Singapore is coming tomorrow, and the main theme of that is regarding Myanmar. What is Japan's stance on Myanmar?

Mr. Taniguchi: It is very much important for Japan to listen carefully to what the Singaporean Foreign Minister is going to have to say on Myanmar. Obviously, Singapore is among the closest neighbors to Myanmar, and Singapore is now chair of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) mechanism, and also, you may recall, come November, there is going to be a series of important meetings involving ASEAN nations, like ASEAN, ASEAN Plus Three and EAS (East Asia Summit). In each one of these meetings, Singapore is going to play a key role as Chair. So it is very much important for both nations to have an intensive dialogue about what is happening in Myanmar, what to be done toward Myanmar. So that is basically among the prime objectives of the talks between the two foreign ministers.

Q: As a follow-up, what other issues are they going to discuss?

Mr. Taniguchi: I should say, issues related to the upcoming meetings in November, like ASEAN, ASEAN Plus Three, and EAS.... Because Singapore and Japan closely worked together when the EAS was launched two years ago, 2005, this is going to be the third meeting of the EAS, Japan and Singapore have many issues to talk on in the run-up to the EAS and other meetings.

VI. Questions concerning the 1973 abduction issue

Q: On a separate issue, a South Korean official said today that South Korea will convey its apology to Japan over the 1973 abduction issue, and I think the Asahi Shinbun reported today that the Ambassador is planning to meet with Mr. Koumura as early as today. Any details on that? What is the Japanese Government's response, basically, to this whole issue?

Mr. Taniguchi: It has been already 34 years since that incident took place. But obviously the fact that a Korean official conducted such acts on the soil of Japan made a breach on the sovereignty of Japan. That is what both Chief Cabinet Secretary Machimura and Foreign Minister Koumura also mentioned.

But before that, the schedule: whether or not the Ambassador from Korea is going to meet Foreign Minister Koumura is not announced yet, is not made clear yet. Foreign Minister Koumura is actually participating in the Diet session at the moment. I do not know when or whether the Ambassador from Korea is going to come to the Foreign Ministry to see Mr. Koumura.

Back to Japan's response, we are expecting the ROK Government to take an appropriate action reflecting what happened 35 years ago, the nature of which I just mentioned.

Q: What does the Japanese Government think about the report that put the responsibility on Japan? The report says it was Japan's responsibility to investigate the issue back then.

Mr. Taniguchi: There was no responsibility to bear on the Japanese side, as has been mentioned repeatedly then, throughout, and now. It was impossible to conduct criminal investigation at the time when the incident actually happened.

VII. Questions concerning North Korea

Q: On North Korea, I think Mr. Christopher Hill said yesterday in Washington that North Korea will declare its nuclear programs within two weeks. What does Japan think about this, if it actually can be realized?

Mr. Taniguchi: I think it is not only Japan, but also other members of the Six-Party dialogue that are paying utmost attention to whether or not North Korea is going to fulfill its pledge as to the declaration and the disablement. It would be, of course, desirable if North Korea advances at such a pace as suggested by Assistant Secretary Ambassador Hill. That is basically it.

Q: One last question. The Washington Post reported that the US Ambassador Mr. Schieffer warned President Bush that a nuclear deal with North Korea could harm relations with Japan. Are you aware of this report?

Mr. Taniguchi: I am aware of the news report.

Q: What does Japan think of this move by the US Ambassador?

Mr. Taniguchi: I have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever whether Ambassador Schieffer said something like that to President Bush. That said, I should perhaps repeat what I have said a couple of times here, that any action to be taken by the US Government should not jeopardize the bilateral relationship between Tokyo and Washington, DC.

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