(* This is a provisional translation by "WIP ジャパン" for reference purpose only. The original text is in Japanese.)

Press Conference by Foreign Minister Taro Aso

Date: Friday, July 14, 2006, 10:50 a.m.
Place: Briefing Room, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Main topics:

Cabinet Meeting
The North Korean Missile Issue

1. Cabinet Meeting

2. The North Korean Missile Issue

Question:
Regarding the Security Council, are there any signs of compromise from China and Russia?

Minister:
At the very least, having gone from a chairman's statement to proposing a resolution of their own can certainly be taken as a form of compromise.

Question:
What are your thoughts on this compromise as formed by the content of the resolution?

Minister:
Now that China and Russia have proposed a resolution, there are reports that the draft resolution proposed by Japan and others is in tatters and that things will now go the way proposed by China and Russia. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Japan's present position has not changed in the slightest. It is the position taken by both Japan and the United States that the resolution drafted by the eight countries should be put to the vote as quickly as possible.

Question:
Are there any signs of China and Russia compromising with Japan in relation to the eight-nation draft resolution proposed by Japan and others?

Minister:
Just as I said, I think that raising the chairman's statement up to a resolution is one form of compromise. To put it in Japan-like terms, basic policy proposed by the Liberal Democratic Party's Political Affairs Research Committee is variously discussed by the House Steering Committee and Diet Affairs Committee immediately upon being issued. I think that, as press reporters, you understand what I mean. That is the stage things are now at. The Diet Affairs Committee experts propose replacing this wording with this, that or the other in talks that even people ordinarily cognizant of the Japanese language find difficult to follow. What is taking place now is exactly that: talk concerning the technicalities and how if it were this or that we would save face or not. I'm sure you know the kind of thing I am talking about. That kind of discussion is taking place on the international level. It is by no means limited to the United Nations. That is the only way that a resolution of such a magnitude as it is can be put together.

Question:
Are we to understand that all sides are searching for points of compromise?

Minister:
That we must put a draft resolution together means that neither side is going to get full marks. It is no more than common sense on the part of both sides to make concessions and work on those areas where satisfaction should be able to be achieved.

Question:
Is Japan planning on taking a more or less concessional position towards China and Russia from now on?

Minister:
There are some points which they won't concede on, and there are some points that we won't concede on either. As I said before, we are at the stage, as it were, of discussions by the House Steering Committee and Diet Affairs Committee. Compared with other countries, the degree of threat posed to Japan is of an altogether different level. We are right next door to them.

Question:
Does your aim of settling the issue before the Summit remain unchanged?

Minister:
Yes, it does. We want to have the issue settled before the Bush/Hu Jintao meeting, at the latest.

Question:
To use your analogy, will the Diet session not be extended?

Minister:
The time zones are different. Settlement must be brought about by Friday. I believe that New York will reopen its session from Friday.

Question:
When it comes to content, there are differences between the proposals of China and Russia on the one side and Japan and the United States on the other concerning the specifying of Chapter 7 of the U. N. Charter and concerning sanctions. How are you intending to find compromise over these issues?

Minister:
As a matter of course, it is generally Britons who, as English language experts, English being their mother tongue, finally draft these documents in English. As a general pattern, the final document, with its proposals for compromise and correction, is the product of the thinking of people from English speaking countries. It is the same in the present situation. Being both from countries that use English, Foreign Secretary Beckett and Secretary of State Rice will probably frame things in the end. As for ourselves here in Japan, it has been a little over a week, and in that time we have made no pronouncements whatsoever in the way of proposing amendments or withdrawals. At the very least, we have made no such pronouncements at all where the discussions are being held. This is in spite of revision proposals appearing in Japanese newspapers.

Question:
I understand that yesterday you said that a resolution proposal that does not include Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter would be completely unacceptable. Has your thinking on this changed at all?

Minister:
Not at all.

Question:
You said that you want a decision by Friday. However, it is already evening by local time there and talks will begin again when it is evening here. Are you aiming for a vote whichever the case?

Minister:
Yes, I am aiming for a vote, a vote before the start of the summit. When it comes to voting, there is still the Iran issue. In North Korea there has been a launch. Yet no one knows if Iran has nuclear weapons or not. North Korea announces that it has nuclear weapons, and launched these missiles. The Iranian case is about a centrifuge in order to be able to build nuclear weapons in the future. In terms of degree of danger, North Korea poses by far the greater threat. It is only natural that we want this issue decided first.

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