Press Conference, 2 September 2008

Expression of condolences
Announcement on the Joint Mission to Promote Trade and Investment in Africa
Announcement of the winners of the 2nd International Manga Award
Announcement of incoming exchange students from the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange program
Questions on the effect of Prime Minister Fukuda's resignation on Japan's foreign relations
Questions on Japan's participation in regards to the United Nations General Assembly

I. Expression of condolences

Deputy Press Secretary Yasuhisa Kawamura: Good afternoon. Thank you for joining my very first press conference as Deputy Press Secretary.

I have a couple of announcements at the outset.

First, upon the passing of His Excellency Mr. Levy Mwanawasa, President of the Republic of Zambia, I would like to reiterate our condolences to the bereaved family, the people, and the Government of Zambia. Tomorrow, Wednesday, the 3rd, Mr. Tetsuro Yano, Member of the House of Councilors and Vice President of the Japan-Africa League of Friendship, is representing Japan to attend the State Funeral of the late President to be held in Lusaka, Zambia. Zambia has been a very important friend to Japan. The President last visited Japan in May this year to attend and greatly contribute to the success of the TICAD IV or the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama.

I would also like to extend my sincere condolences to those who lost loved ones and suffered serious damages caused by Hurricane Gustav in the Caribbean region in particular. But also I just learned that the United States, also, suffered some damages in Louisiana and other regions.

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II. Announcement on the Joint Mission to Promote Trade and Investment in Africa

The second announcement is related to the growth of Africa, the plan of the May 2008 TICAD IV. Since last weekend, the first group of the public-private Joint Mission to Promote Trade and Investment in Africa has been visiting the region. This mission is led by Mr. Takamori Yoshikawa, Senior Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, and comprised of over fifty members, both from government and the private sector. This mission is to follow up on one of the initiatives Japan announced at the TICAD IV with an aim to accelerate Africa's growth. This first group visits the southern region of Africa, namely, Botswana, Mozambique, Madagascar, and South Africa. The two other delegations will visit the eastern and western region of Africa, respectively, later on.

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III. Announcement of the winners of the 2nd International Manga Award

Third, about culture, tonight, Foreign Minister Koumura will present an award to the winners of the 2nd International MANGA Award at the Ministry's guest house. This year, we received 368 entries from 46 countries and regions. The Gold Award, or the best work, goes to Mr. Lau Wan Kit of Hong Kong. Three artists, each from China, Russia and France, will receive the Silver Award. For those who are interested in the artists and their work, please refer to the handout, which is also uploaded on the Ministry's web site.

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IV. Announcement of incoming exchange students from the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange program

And, fourth and last, a group of 26 Chinese high school students are arriving in Japan today, Tuesday, the 2nd on the invitation of the so-called Heart-to-Heart Exchange Program, or the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS) Program. Those high school students are going to spend as long as 11 months actually going to high schools in a host of different places in Japan, like Kagoshima, Osaka, Toyama, Hokkaido, and so on. This is part of the ongoing effort jointly conducted by the Japan Foundation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

That's all I have to say for you today. I now would like to invite your questions, please.

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V. Questions on the effect of Prime Minister Fukuda's resignation on Japan's foreign relations

Q: Prime Minister Fukuda is the second prime minister to resign since September of last year. How is this going to affect Japan's diplomatic schedules?

Mr. Kawamura: First of all, I don't want to make any comments on the Prime Minister's statement because the Prime Minister's decision is to be respected by the government. But I want to emphasize that in the area of Japan's diplomatic relations under the leadership of Prime Minister Fukuda, there are a series of good achievements including the TICAD IV conference and the G8 Summit Meeting. As far as the diplomatic relations are concerned, Japan will continue to move forward, vigorously, with its diplomatic goals and interests with our partners, the same as before, without making any stops or detours. On particular items related to the diplomatic relations, we will continue to work on with our partners.

Q: If I may ask especially towards the schedule for the trilateral summit with China and South Korea there is some speculation that aims to be taking place sometime this month. Is that going to be delayed, or is the Japanese government still trying to host this meeting at the end of September?

Mr. Kawamura: We are currently coordinating the dates and venue of the Japan-China-Korea Summit Meeting. But, we have yet to finalize it. As you may know, last June the three foreign ministers agreed to hold the Japan-China-Korea Summit Meeting sometime around September in Japan. Based upon that agreement, our people are coordinating the dates and venues, so we will see.

Q: There are also concerns that North Korea is going to wait and see before making any moves on the agreement as to the investigation of abductees. What do you say about this?

Mr. Kawamura: First of all, I do not want to speculate on the DPRK's reaction. Japan will continue to urge the DPRK that it starts again, as soon as possible, the investigation on the whereabouts of the abducted Japanese citizens so that those fellow citizens will safely return to Japan as soon as possible, so we don't change our stance.

Q: So even if the Japanese domestic political situation is going through the process of choosing a new Prime Minister, if North Korea goes ahead with the investigation during this period Japan will still be able to go ahead with lifting the sanctions?

Mr. Kawamura: I'm sorry, can I please ask you to repeat the first part of your question?

Q: If North Korea starts the reinvestigation, during the period of time while the Japanese political situation is going through the process of choosing a new leader of the LDP and thus the new Japanese Prime Minister, is the Ministry confident that the process of lifting sanctions will go ahead smoothly?

Mr. Kawamura: Your question is a little bit about speculation and without any direct relationship to the political schedule, we will wait on North Korea's early action on the investigations of the Japanese abducted citizens. So we strongly hope that they will take action as soon as possible, then we will react to implement what we have been committed in fairness of the agreement.

VI. Questions on Japan's participation in regards to the United Nations General Assembly

Q: My last question is about the UN General Assembly. How likely is it that Japan is going to be serving in the General Assembly meetings?

Mr. Kawamura: We haven't decided on how we could respond to the United Nations General Assembly meeting, but as you know Japan places very high priority on the United Nations activities and the General Assembly itself. So we will do our best so that Japan's presence will be correctly maintained and we will pursue opportunities to present the Japanese government's stance on various issues.

Q: Will the new Prime Minister be attending these meetings?

Mr. Kawamura: We will take into consideration, seriously, how Japan is best represented in the outcome of the General Assembly.

Thank you very much.

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