Courtesy Call on Mr. Naoto Kan, Prime Minister of Japan by Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations

August 8, 2011
Japanese

(Photo: Cabinet Public Relations Office)

On Monday, August 8, for approx. 40 minutes from 6:05 p.m., Prime Minister Naoto Kan received a courtesy call from H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations. An outline of the meeting is as follows.

At the beginning, Prime Minister Kan expressed his gratitude to Mr. Ban for the latter's visit to the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster area, where he offered his condolences to those affected by the disaster. Prime Minister Kan also welcomed the reappointment of Mr. Ban to his post for a second term, and expressed his intention to cooperate closely with the UN in future too.
Mr. Ban thanked Prime Minister Kan for his words of welcome, and explained that he was visiting Japan in order to personally show his solidarity with the Japanese people including those affected by the disaster, and expressed his appreciation for being given the opportunity to do so. In addition, he said that he witnessed the disaster area and that he had seen signs of hope that Japan was heading towards reconstruction. He said that, while seeing people returning to ordinary life under Prime Minister Kan's leadership, he felt certain that Japan would surely recover and rise again.
Mr. Ban further said that the Fukushima nuclear plant accident was important for the international community in demonstrating the safety of nuclear power, and that Japan's experience at this time is a lesson that should be shared with the international community. Then he invited Prime Minister Kan to attend the high-level conference on nuclear safety to be held at the UN General Assembly in September.
In reply to this, Prime Minister Kan said that Japan would address responsibly the issue of the high-level conference on nuclear safety and that it wished to make a positive contribution to the success of the conference. Following this, he explained about the situation toward the resolution of the Fukushima nuclear plant accident. In addition, Prime Minister Kan said that Japan, as the only country to have suffered from the atomic bomb, wished to cooperate with the UN toward achieving "A World without Nuclear Weapons". He also spoke about the UN Security Council reform, noting that since the movement toward reform had gathered momentum, Japan would continue to flexibly cooperate and hold consultations with a wide range of countries in consultation with the President of the UN General Assembly to realize reform at an early date.
Mr. Ban spoke about sustainable development and UN reform, including Security Council reform, as high-profile issues for his second term, and said he wished to raise two specific points. He expressed his hope that Japan would provide additional support regarding the humanitarian situation in Somalia and the Horn of Africa, and he made a request to Japan concerning a possible dispatch of PKO mission to South Sudan.
Prime Minister Kan said that he would consider what response Japan could make to the situation in Somalia and the Horn of Africa. As for South Sudan, he said that the Government of Japan is willing to support the nation building efforts now underway to the maximum possible extent, and that due consideration will be given to specific contributory measures.

(* 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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