Japan- ROK Summit Telephone Conversation

March 13, 2011
Japanese

On March 13, Prime Minister Naoto Kan held a telephone conversation with His Excellency Mr. Lee Myung Bak, President of the Republic of Korea (ROK), who called to Prime Minister Kan on his business trip to United Arab Emirates.
At the outset, President Lee stated that his heart was hurt by the ultimate loss of human lives and damages caused by the earthquake and tsunami as a neighboring nation. On behalf of the Government of the ROK and the people, President Lee expressed his heartfelt condolences to the victims and sincere sympathies to the people for their suffering. President Lee also stated that he was touched by orderly behaviour of the Japanese people in such disastrous situations.
In response to this, Prime Minister Kan expressed his profound gratitudeto President Lee for his s kind consideration such as Predient’s warm message expressed on the day of the earthquake. Prime Minister Kan, in reference to the arrival of a team of rescue dogs in Japan which was the first aid from abroad and expressed his deep gratitude on behalf of the people of Japan.
Prime Minister Kan appreciated and accepted ROK’s offer to dispatch additional assistance team, The details of the assistance will be coordinate between the two countries.
Prime Minister Kan explained the current situation of the nuclear power plant. President Lee stated that he was not concerned about the situation because the Government of Japan had been taking controlled measures appropriately.

(*This is a provisional translation. The above date denotes the date of the issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

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