Press Conference by
Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda

(on the Incident at the Official Residence of the Japanese Ambassador
to the Republic of Peru)

23 December 1996
(unofficial Translation)

Minister for Foreign Affairs Yukihiko Ikeda: I have just returned from the Republic of Peru. Today, 225 of the hostages there were freed; however, many people are still being held hostage. In a way, I believe that we are just entering a period in which a difficult response will be necessary.

I accomplished my mission of setting up an initial structure, and was instructed by the Prime Minister to return to Japan. Before departing for Peru, I viewed my role as follows. My first goal was to set up our local headquarters. My second goal was to clearly communicate to the Government of Peru Japan's basic stance on responding to this incident, and, while putting faith in the response of the Government of Peru, to cooperate and to help bring about a resolution to this incident. My third goal was to communicate with Japanese corporations and the concerned Japanese nationals in Peru, and to ask that those individuals, despite the difficulties of this incident, remain calm and react appropriately. My fourth goal was to communicate with relevant ambassadors and other diplomatic missions.

As for the first point, personnel have been dispatched from this ministry and from nearby overseas establishments, and we have received cooperation from other related ministries and agencies and worked to cooperate in quickly setting up a structure in order to respond to this incident.

I returned to Japan today and, after a meeting tomorrow morning, 24 December, I will be sending Director-General Shunichi Sato of the Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau to Lima to serve as the chief of the local headquarters. Ambassador to Mexico Terusuke Terada arrived in Peru on 19 December, and the Ambassador will be serving as an advisor to the local headquarters. The local structure is therefore firmly in place, centered on these two officials. Yesterday, in my two meetings with President Alberto Fujimori, I explained that these were the actions which Japan would be taking, and asked for the prompt response by the Government of Peru in the event that Ambassador Terada or Director-General Sato contacted or consulted with them.

Secondly, as for relations with Peru, on the evening that I arrived, I immediately met with President Fujimori and explained that in resolving this situation, Japan was committed to peaceful methods and hoped for an early resolution which placed the highest priority on the safety and lives of the hostages, and also explained that Japan was ready to play whatever role was appropriate. The President responded that the Government of Peru was of exactly the same opinion. I communicated with Minister of Education Domingo Palermo, and just before departing Peru, I spoke with President Fujimori for about one hour and forty or fifty minutes at 23:00. We discussed many things, including the various approaches that the Government of Peru had been taking since our first meeting, and as I met with President Fujimori just after he had announced his first clear message regarding the policy which the Government of Peru would be taking in response to this incident, I heard from the President how he viewed this and how he intended to proceed. In my series of meetings and contacts, as well as my observation of the responses by the Government of Peru in Lima, including my impression on the discussions with the President and the Education Minister, I have been led to believe that the best action for Japan to take is to place its trust in the response to be taken by the Government of Peru, which has so far been carefully collecting information and analyzing it in a detailed manner, and, based on that analysis, is considering the timing for responding appropriately, the effect of which is apparent.

Regarding the third point, concerning relations with the countries concerned, as you all know, in an early stage, it was not always clear exactly what kind of response the Government of Peru was trying to take, and there were various suspicions and ideas about how this was going to work out. It seems that there were various opinions expressed on the matter, but from contact with the Government of Peru, and from my discussions with ambassadors from the countries concerned, and from the telephone conversations and other contacts with foreign ministers from other countries, I feel that, basically, the response taken by the Government of Peru is a sound one, and I think that understanding has deepened in many countries about the efforts being made to resolve the situation peacefully as the Government of Peru strives to ensure the safety of the hostages. In the time to come, the Governments of Peru and Japan as well will continue to carry out various roles, and we must all strive to avoid confusion in the responses taken among the countries concerned and to retain order. I believe that in that sense, I was able to fulfill my role in this trip.

As for contacts with Japanese corporations and Japanese nationals in Peru, I was personally able to speak about many things with the concerned individuals who gathered together. As I said earlier in outlining the local response structure, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and also other ministries and agencies, such as the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), have sent personnel, who quickly created a communication network among the local Japanese corporations and the local Japanese community. These people are working actively, and I felt that as such, the structure had been put into place and was beginning to function.

As I explained at the outset, there are still difficulties to overcome, and moreover, depending on your view, we are now entering a difficult phase. However, I believed that I was able to fulfill, fairly well, my role of putting into place the initial structure, when the Prime Minister ordered me to return, and so I have come back. The past few days have been an extremely busy period, with the Prime Minister, as well as the acting Foreign Minister, being involved with the budget and other issues as well. Still, despite that, I believe that he took leadership in responding to this incident.

I am grateful, as I believe that that has been extremely powerful in creating a force for the overall response which Japan as a whole has taken so far to this incident. I intend to continue to maintain full communications with all relevant parties, and of course with the Government of Peru, but also to coordinate with other countries concerned and somehow to secure the objective of realizing the earliest safe return of all of those who are being held hostage. The Government of Japan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to devote its fullest efforts in that regard.