Japan-U.S. Foreign Ministerial Meeting
Summary
June 27, 2008
Foreign Minister Koumura held a meeting with Secretary of State Rice, who was visiting Japan to attend the G8 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, for about an hour beginning at 4:50 P.M. on June 27 at Kyoto State Guest House.
1. The G8 Foreign Ministers' Meeting and the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit Meeting
At the beginning of the meeting, Secretary Rice expressed her appreciation to Foreign Minister Koumura and the people of Kyoto for their arrangement to hold the G8 Kyoto Foreign Ministers' Meeting and for their warm hospitality. Both sides agreed that the discussions at the Foreign Ministers' Meeting had gone very well, and that they shared the understanding that the G8 issued a good statement, especially the two stand-alone statements on Afghanistan and Zimbabwe. They further shared the view that they will continue close cooperation between Japan and the U.S. toward the success of the upcoming G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit.
2. Japan-U.S. Relations
- (1) Both sides agreed that the Japan-U.S. alliance is extremely important and that they would continue close coordination to further strengthen the alliance.
- (2) With regard to the Japan-U.S. Summit meeting to be held at the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, Foreign Minister Koumura stated that the two leaders should discuss issues such as deepened Japan-U.S. alliance, foreign policy vis-à-vis other Asian countries based on the idea of "synergy between the Japan-U.S. alliance and Japanese diplomacy toward Asia," regional situations including North Korea, and global issues such as climate change. In response to this, Secretary Rice stated that the U.S.-Japan Summit meeting in Hokkaido Toyako would be an important meeting, and discussion on the topics mentioned by Foreign Minister Koumura would be useful.
- (3) Both sides reaffirmed that they would steadily implement the realignment of the U.S. Forces based on the Roadmap.
3. North Korea
- (1) The Abduction Issue
- (a) Foreign Minister Koumura stated that there was concern within the Japanese public, including the "Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea" that the abduction issue would be left behind following the notification to the Congress of the intention to remove North Korea from the list of countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism, and expressed his appreciation for the President Bush's statement of June 26 on his unwavering support for the position of the Government of Japan with regard to Japan-North Korea relations including the abduction issue. The Minister further stated that the North Korean side had promised to investigate the issue anew at the recent Japan-North Korea Working-Level Consultations, but the situation still remains at the "commitment for commitment" stage and that it was necessary to advance quickly to the "action for action" stage. He asked Secretary Rice for the United States to continue urging North Korea as much as it could.
- (b) In response to these remarks, Secretary Rice stated that President Bush had been deeply moved by his meeting with the families of the victims and that the United States would never forget the abductees. Secretary Rice further stated that the United States supported Japan's position on the abduction issue and that there was no change at all in the position of the United States to take advantage of various opportunities to move North Korea to solve this issue. The Secretary emphasized that the resolution of the abduction issue was also of great significance to the United States. Secretary Rice went on to say that as before, the United States still maintained a great deal of leverage in its negotiations with North Korea, citing the sanctions imposed on North Korea for human rights violations, the nuclear-weapon test in 2006, nuclear proliferation, and those placed by the UN Security Council Resolutions were still in effect.
- (2) Denuclearization
- (a) Foreign Minister Koumura noted that the declaration by North Korea marked some progress, but that it was important to verify the content of the declaration and that Japan would continue to work in close consultation with the United States to reach an early agreement on the mechanism for the ulterior verification at the Six-Party Talks. The Minister went on to say that he would like to create at the third stage a roadmap leading to a complete nuclear abandonment, including the abandonment of nuclear weapons.
- (b) In response, Secretary Rice stated that the next important step would be for North Korea to fully cooperate in the verification of the completeness and accuracy of its declaration, with a view to moving forward on the ultimate goal of North Korea's complete abandonment of its nuclear weapons and nuclear programs.
- (3) Both sides agreed that Japan and the United States would work in close consultation on the issue, sharing the view that it was important to make progress both on denuclearization and Japan-North Korea relations including the abduction issue, and that the declaration submitted by North Korea must be thoroughly verified and be relayed to the abandonment of its nuclear programs, and that Japan and the United States would work in close consultation.
4. Tackling Global Issues
Both sides shared the view that Japan and the United States would continue to work in close coordination on the issue of climate change in order to produce good results at the Hokkaido Toyako Summit and the summit-level Major Economies Meeting (MEM).
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