(* This is a provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only. The original text is in Japanese.)

Press Conference by Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Aso

Date: Friday, July 6, 2007, 10:57 a.m.
Place: Briefing Room, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Main topics:

Nomination to Fill Judicial Vacancies through a By-Election of the ICC
Lawsuit in International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea regarding Seizure of Japanese Fishing Vessel
North Korean Issues
Situation in Darfur

1. Nomination to Fill Judicial Vacancies through a By-Election of the ICC

Minister:
Regarding the issue of a by-election of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Japan recently decided to join the ICC after the ratification in the last session of the Diet. The ICC will be holding an election to fill the three vacancies among the eighteen total judicial positions; Japan will nominate a candidate for this election. Ms. Fumiko Saiga, Ambassador in charge of Human Rights as well as a member of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discriminations against Women will be the nominee. As you are aware, the International Criminal Court is concerned with the two main areas of criminal and humanitarian law; Ms. Saiga will be nominated for humanitarian law. Japan is planned to officially become a contracting party in October, so based on this, I believe that the election will end up taking place in December. The election for judicial vacancies is believed to be very tough.

Related Information (Press Release)

2. Lawsuit in International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea regarding Seizure of Japanese Fishing Vessel

Question:
A lawsuit was filed as early as today in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea regarding the seizure of the fishing boat from Toyama Prefecture by Russian border patrol. Since this is the first time for Japan to file a lawsuit in such matters, can you please explain how it came it was decided to file suit in the International Tribunal?

Minister:
This incident concerns the Exclusive Economic Zone of 200 nautical miles, and it is necessary to understand that this is different from the so-called issue of the Four Northern Islands. At the very least, the crew members of the 88th Hoshinmaru and the ship itself that were seized around the Kamchatka Peninsula in early June have not been returned. In addition, though crew members from the 53rd Tomimaru from Hokkaido seized last November have been returned, the ship itself has not been returned. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea contains an International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). At the very least, Russia should observe international law and indicate a reasonable security. We firmly ask that upon this payment, the crew members and ship be returned without delay. We have not had this kind of response yet, so that is why we have filed suit.

Question:
What specific effects on the speedy return of the crew members and ship do you foresee as a result of filing suit?

Minister:
We specifically hope to see their return.

Related Information (Press Release)

3. North Korean Issues

Question:
The IAEA Board of Governors session is to be held next week on July 9. Initially, Assistant Secretary of State Hill of the US was speculating that the Heads of Delegation Meeting of the Six-Party Talks will be held around next week. On the other hand, you had stated that more time will be needed; why is this so?

Minister:
According to IAEA Deputy Director Heinonen's report, North Korea was fully cooperative. I believe fundamentally five facilities are in question. The well-known 5 mega-watt experimental reactor, the 50 mega-watt experimental reactor currently being constructed, a radiochemical laboratory, nuclear fuel rod fabrication plants -- 4 existing facilities --, and other new 200 mega-watt experimental reactors being constructed in Taechon-if these will be immediately shut down, implemented with surveillance cameras, this would presumably take several weeks. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology would know better, but I believe this will physically take until the end of July. I heard that Deputy Director Heinonen said that he has at least seen what he wanted to see.

Question:
Can the Heads of Delegation Meeting not be held until the IAEA inspectors have gone into the facilities and verified the situation with surveillance cameras?

Minister:
Well, it's fair to ask whether North Korea will actually agree to implement the camera. South Korea has started its 50,000 ton shipment of heavy fuel oil; South Korea has also stated that the two have agreed that the entire shipment will arrive sometime in July, within 20 days. I have heard various detailed reports, but I believe that basically, North Korea will put these into practice. I wouldn't say that this year has gone well, seeing as something that was meant to take place in February has dragged on until July. We are talking about finally arriving at the actions with a five-month delay, so it remains to be seen, on top of that, in what ways and how closely North Korea will cooperate.

Question:
In that case, if the IAEA's inspections will take until about the end of July, will the Six-Party Talks be held in August or later?

Minister:
If you are talking about the Six-Party Talks, that is correct. A ministerial meeting will probably be after that.

4. Situation in Darfur

Question:
With the G8 Summit in Toyako, Hokkaido approximately a year from now, we anticipate that Africa and especially the situation in Darfur will begin to be taken up. TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) IV will also take place in May. Please tell us what is being undertaken to work on problems in Africa and especially with Darfur during a year until the G8 Summit.

Minister:
This is quite a difficult matter. Several hundred thousand people have been murdered and fled to Chad due to racial issues among the original inhabitants of African descent and their conflict with the Sudanese of Arabic descent. Until now, the Sudanese government itself had been maintaining that it would not accept PKOs and such, but little by little, progress has been made so that they have finally agreed to accept PKOs. I guess, actually, it is still quite a complicated and messy situation. This has been brought up at the recent Heiligendamm Summit, and we have had Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Iwaya attend the related conference held in Paris on short notice the other day to make a speech. However, to be honest, there is no right answer for this matter at the present.

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