Press Conference by the Press Secretary 9 October, 1998

1. The 7-10 October State Visit of President Kim Dae Jung of the Republic of Korea to Japan
2. The 12 October Japan-European Union Ministerial Conference to be held in Tokyo
3. Upcoming visit of President Jiang Zemin of the People's Republic of China to Japan
4. Discussions between the Governments of Japan and the Republic of Korea regarding the North Korean 31 August missile launch
5. Possible talks between Japan and the United States regarding missile defense research
6. Expulsion of a Yomiuri Shimbun reporter from the People's Republic of China
7. Situation in Malaysia

1. The 7-10 October State Visit of President Kim Dae Jung of the Republic of Korea to Japan

   Deputy Press Secretary Masaki Okada: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Today's first topic will be the visit to Japan of President Kim Dae Jung of the Republic of Korea. Many press conferences have been held which you might have attended, so I will just shortly summarize the results of President Kim's visit at this stage. The most important and significant result is obviously the Japan-Republic of Korea Joint Declaration created yesterday. In this Declaration, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi stated his view on the past history and this view was accepted with sincerity by President Kim. The Action Plan is attached to the Declaration and the whole document will be a basis for a future-oriented partnership. There were also three agreements which were concluded at this occasion. The first one is the exchange of Notes concerning the Waiver of Visa Requirements for Diplomatic or Official Passport Holders. The second one concerns Working Holiday Visas. The Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement was also concluded at this occasion. That sums up the concrete documents which were adopted during the visit of President Kim. As I mentioned, as a whole, this visit of President Kim was very successful and we were very satisfied in the sense that this will be a basis for a future, very productive relationship.

   Related Information (Visit to Japan of His Excellency the President of the Republic of Korea and Mrs. Kim Dae-jung)
   
2. The 12 October Japan-European Union Ministerial Conference to be held in Tokyo

   Deputy Press Secretary Masaki Okada: My second announcement is related to European Union-Japan relations. On 12 October, Monday next week, the Japan-European Union Ministerial Conference will be held in Iikura House. This is the first meeting since April 1996. From the European Union, Vice President of the European Commission, Sir Leon Brittan will chair the meeting. In addition, Commissioner Martin Bangemann, who is now in charge of Industrial Affairs, Information and Telecommunications Technologies, and Commissioner Anita Gradin who is in charge of Immigration, Home Affairs and Justice. These three members of the Commission will participate.

   From Japan, the Minister of International Trade and Industry Kaoru Yosano, Director-General of the Economic Planning Agency Taichi Sakaiya, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Seiko Noda, Minister of Justice Shozaburo Nakamura, Minister of Home Affairs Mamoru Nishida, and Director-General of the Environment Agency Shinji Manabe will participate. In total, seven Ministers will participate from the Japanese side. This large number of participating Ministers I think indicates the importance Japan attaches to the relations with the European Union. They are going to discuss, first of all, bilateral trade and investment, but not only that, they are also going to discuss bilateral cooperation on such topics as mutual recognition of standards and deregulation. They are also going to exchange views concerning new topics such as electronic commerce, internationally organized crime, including illicit narcotics, and so on.

   Also from the Japanese side, we will explain what we -- the Cabinet for Economic Revival -- are now doing towards the revival of our economy. We are also going to reconfirm our determination to further dialogue and extend cooperation for the purpose of stabilization of the world economy.

   Related Information (Japan-EU Relations)
   
3. Upcoming visit of President Jiang Zemin of the People's Republic of China to Japan

   Q: I understand that President Jiang Zemin may be coming to town on 24 November, perhaps? What can you tell us about that? I also understand that all the Japanese newspapers are saying that, as with the visit that President Kim Dae Jung is making, the Chinese are also going to get a direct apology for the War.

   Mr. Okada: Concerning the date of the visit of President Jiang Zemin of the People's Republic of China, we are still coordinating it. There are many sorts of speculations as you have just mentioned, but for the time being, officially we can just say that we are still coordinating.

   Q: How long a visit will this be? It is a State Visit, so is it for a set time?

   Mr. Okada: They are typically four or five days, but there is no fixed regulation in place for State Visits.

   Q: And the apology?

   Mr. Okada: As for the apology, concerning the understanding of the past history, our basis is the statement made by then-Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama in 1995, and the Government squarely looks at the past history and at the same time is willing to conduct further dialogue and cooperate to build our future. As far as the relations with the People's Republic of China are concerned and what we are going to do when President Jiang comes to Japan, we are still considering what to do and at present, nothing has been decided yet. We are going to handle this issue on the basis of the basic stance I just explained to you.

   Q: You understand, of course, that the Chinese will probably settle for nothing less than what the South Koreans got?

   Mr. Okada: Well, that is your opinion.

   Q: Would you argue with that premise?

   Mr. Okada: If the Chinese side raises that issue, we are going to discuss it with them.

   Related Information (Japan-China Relations)
   
4. Discussions between the Governments of Japan and the Republic of Korea regarding the North Korean 31 August missile launch

   Q: Concerning President Kim's visit to Japan, on any senior level -- Presidential or Minister-level -- have the two countries discussed the missile test firing by North Korea on 31 August?

   Mr. Okada: Concerning the missile launch by North Korea, we discussed that matter both at the meeting of the Foreign Ministers and also at the meeting of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and President Kim. At Prime Minister Obuchi's meeting with President Kim, President Kim explained that though it is not clear whether it was a missile or a satellite, the Republic of Korea side understands the feelings of the Japanese and that it is very important that the three countries -- namely Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States -- are united and tackle this issue jointly. Also at the meeting of both Foreign Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Soon-yong Hong of the Republic of Korea explained that the new regime in North Korea has some unpredictable aspects and that though there are various fora between the United States and North Korea, the response to North Korea should be in a joint manner by Japan and the Republic of Korea. Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura agreed. Even if Japan's policies toward North Korea and the Republic of Korea's policies toward North Korea are not exactly the same, we should cooperate closely so that we are not split. That is what they have spoken about regarding North Korea.

   Q: Was there any talk about the seriousness of the threat of North Korean missiles?

   Mr. Okada: What I explained to you is the overview of what they spoke about during their meetings.

   Related Information (North Korea's Missile Launch)
   
5. Possible talks between Japan and the United States regarding missile defense research

   Q: Also, concerning the missile or missile defense. Can you update us on the status of talks between Japan and the United States concerning the joint research of Japan's defense.

   Mr. Okada: I think the agreement, for the time being between the United States and Japan, is to further study the possibilities for joint research in that field. That was the agreement reached at the so-called "2+2" meetings. That is the present status.

   Q: I hear that the Security Council of Japan is going to meet on 20 October to discuss this -- can you confirm this?

   Mr. Okada: Yes. The Security Council is going to meet on 20 October. This meeting means that this possible joint research shall also be examined from the viewpoint of civilian control. Therefore, this meeting is the start of a process of studying the possibility of conducting joint research from the viewpoint of civilian control.

   Related Information (Japan-The United States Relations)
   
6. Expulsion of a Yomiuri Shimbun reporter from the People's Republic of China

   Q: Regarding the expulsion of the Yomiuri Shimbun reporter from China, although there has been a dJmarche from the Foreign Ministry about it, how will this affect relations with China?

   Mr. Okada: We received a report through diplomatic channels from the Government of the People's Republic of China that a Yomiuri Shimbun journalist resident in Beijing was ordered to leave the country. We found it very regrettable that this happened. However, it still is not clear to us what happened. Therefore, when the circumstance and facts become clearer, we are going to duly respond to the situation.

   Related Information (Japan-China Relations)
   
7. Situation in Malaysia

   Q: What is your assessment of the situation in Malaysia? The news reports say that the Indonesian President has canceled his trip to Malaysia and that the Philippine President has criticized the Malaysian leadership. And Thailand is also upset because of the arrest of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Do you think ASEAN is going to split?

   Mr. Okada: I am not in a position to comment on the policies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). What I can say here is that we are also carefully watching the situation in Malaysia but as I explained to you last time, President Mohamad Mahathir promised that he is going to investigate the suspected violence against former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. We are closely watching the situation. The nature of the matter is that these are internal affairs. Therefore, we do not think it is appropriate to make detailed comments at this time. Also at the same time, I can say that we formally received information regarding the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings and that we are going to participate.

   Related Information (Japan-Malaysia Relations)