Press Conference by the Press Secretary 11 December, 1998

Announcement of emergency aid to Cambodian refugees and others by the Government of Japan
Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's attendance at the upcoming Summit Meeting in Hanoi of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders and the Leaders of Japan, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea
The goal of Japan and the United States of America to prevent North Korea's development of nuclear weapons
Negotiations between the Russian Federation and Japan regarding the conclusion of a peace treaty
Sub-critical nuclear testing being conducted by the Russian Federation and the United States of America

Announcement of emergency aid to Cambodian refugees and others by the Government of Japan
Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: Good afternoon. I have two announcements to make. First is the emergency aid to Cambodia for Cambodian refugees and others. We have decided to extend emergency aid of US$1.05 million through the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the relief of some 40,000 Cambodian refugees and others who are forced to suffer near the Thai-Cambodian border. As you may recall, there was this armed clash in July 1997, and as a result, about 60,000 Cambodian refugees were forced to flee to the Thai border. Since then, about 20,000 of these people have been repatriated, but there still remain about 40,000 people. In light of this, the UNHCR reissued an appeal to the international community for assistance of about US$13 million, which is for the period between July 1998 and December 1999. We are responding to this. We have already donated US$1.22 million for the previous UNHCR appeal -- that was for the period between July 1997 and June 1998 -- and with this new commitment of US$1.05 million, the total amount of Japan's financial assistance for Cambodian refugees will now total US$2.27 million.
Related Information (Japan-Cambodia Relations)
Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's attendance at the upcoming Summit Meeting in Hanoi of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders and the Leaders of Japan, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea
Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: My next comment is on the Summit Meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders and the Leaders of Japan, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea which is to take place in Hanoi next week. Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi will be going to Hanoi. He will be arriving on Tuesday, 15 December, and on Wednesday, 16 December, he will give a policy speech in the morning and then he will participate in the ASEAN+3 Meetings -- that is ASEAN plus Japan, China and the Republic of Korea. Then there will be the ASEAN+1 Meeting that is between Japan and the ASEAN Leaders. On Thursday, 17 December, which will be a bilateral visit by Prime Minister Obuchi to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, he will be meeting General Secretary of the Communist Party Le Kha Phieu, President Tran Duc Luong and Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. In the afternoon, he will be going to Ho Chi Minh and he will be taking a tour around the Cho Ray Hospital which was built through grant assistance by Japan.
1. Significance of the goals of the ASEAN Summit Meeting
  Let me mention a few points about the significance or the goals of this Summit. Firstly, this will be the first time for Prime Minister Obuchi to have meetings with all the ASEAN Leaders together. In fact, this is the fourth Japan-ASEAN Summit. The first one was held in 1977 when then-Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda attended, the second took place in 1987, which was attended by then-Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, and the third was in December last year, attended by then-Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. Last year, there was also the first ASEAN plus Japan, China and the Republic of Korea Summit Meeting. This time, it will be the fourth Japan-ASEAN Summit and the second ASEAN plus Japan, China and the Republic of Korea Summit Meeting.
  
  The significance of the ASEAN+3 Meeting is that it does provide a valuable opportunity for the leaders of the East Asian countries to discuss a number of items of mutual interest or concern, not only limited to economic issues, but also covering political, security and other matters. In that context, Prime Minister Obuchi, I expect, will be talking about Japan's approach to ASEAN in general and also Japan's support for the ASEAN countries to overcome the current Asian economic difficulties.
  
  With respect to Japan's stance towards ASEAN in general, there has been this aspiration on the part of ASEAN to bring the idea of "ASEAN 10" into reality. That is, to create an ASEAN which embraces the whole of Southeast Asia. Of course, how they may bring this about and when, is a matter for the ASEAN countries themselves to decide. However, the "ASEAN 10" can be realized if the membership of Cambodia is admitted by ASEAN. We note that through these efforts, including the efforts to expand its membership, ASEAN is endeavoring to maintain its policies of promoting political solidarity and economic liberalization. I expect that Japan will express its support for these efforts on the part of ASEAN and also express its expectation for ASEAN's future development.
2. Japan's financial assistance to Asian countries to overcome current economic difficulties
  The second key point is, as I mentioned earlier, Japan's support for ASEAN countries to overcome the current economic difficulties. As you know, Japan has already announced and is steadily implementing quite substantial measures to support the ASEAN countries. Japan's support to those countries that have been affected by the economic and financial turmoil now amounts to US$44 billion, which is the world's largest assistance in this respect. Japan also announced the Miyazawa Initiative, or the New Initiative to Overcome the Asian Currency Crisis, which includes a package of financial support of US$30 billion. Also, at the last Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Meeting in November, Japan and the United States announced a joint initiative called the Asian Growth and Recovery Initiative. In order to implement these measures, Japan has allotted about 1 trillion yen in the recently formulated Emergency Economic Package and we expect that the supplementary budget, including the measures in the 1 trillion yen package, will be passed soon -- that is, before Prime Minister Obuchi arrives in Hanoi.
  
  Allow me to mention one other point with respect to the Miyazawa Initiative. As you recall, the Miyazawa Initiative contains a number of concepts, as well as a package of financial support with a number -- the number being US$30 billion -- out of which US$15 billion is designed for medium- to long-term financing and US$15 billion is designed for short-term financing. We have sent missions to the Kingdom of Thailand, the Republic of Indonesia, the Republic of the Philippines, Malaysia and the Republic of Korea to identify the needs and desires on the part of those countries as to what sort of assistance they may wish to receive from Japan, and we are in the process of examining their desires and requests.
  
  We expect that the bulk of the US$15 billion for medium- to long-term financing will probably consist of yen loans and financing by the Export-Import Bank of Japan (JEXIM). I would mention one other point, which is that there were reports yesterday to the effect that the Union of Myanmar may be included as one of the recipients of the support measures under the Miyazawa Initiative. That is not entirely correct because of the circumstances surrounding Myanmar. In fact, we are not contemplating inclusion of Myanmar in this Initiative. Rather, with respect to Myanmar, we will continue to monitor the situations in that country with respect to democratization and human rights and we will examine possible assistance to Myanmar on a case-by-case basis with a focus on ongoing projects and also assistance in the areas of basic human needs. In that sense, the situation in Myanmar is unique.
  
  I mentioned the supplementary budget in connection with the 1 trillion yen in the recently formulated Emergency Economic Package. Some of the items included in that are, for example, quick-disbursing yen loans and JEXIM financing, trade insurance, and also a substantial provision for what we call human resource development or the training of people in the business and industrial sector from these countries, and our plan is to expand thatsort of program with a view to receiving about 10,000 trainees from these countries.
3. Recent focus and discussions on the concept of human security
  Another point I should mention is that there has been this recent focus on what you call "human security." Human security is an idea which sees such issues as poverty, the environment, refugees, violation of human rights, terrorism and anti-personnel landmines as a threat to human survival and dignity. The idea is to explore ways by which we can strengthen measures to address these issues. This has become an approach increasingly shared by our partners in Asia.
  
  One important point about approaching these issues is that since these issues spread internationally beyond national borders, it is necessary for the international community to tackle them together with close cooperation. Also, related to this idea of human security, is the idea of promoting intellectual dialogue, or exchange of ideas and concepts among the countries concerned, and that is a point that Prime Minister Obuchi, when he was Minister for Foreign Affairs and gave a policy speech in Singapore in May this year, stressed by proposing the promotion of mutual intellectual cooperation among the countries of East Asia. As a follow-up to this proposal, you may recall that a conference was held in Tokyo 2-3 December, sponsored by the Japan Center for International Exchange and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, which took up two interrelated themes. The first is joint strategy for enhancement of human security in East Asia and second, the roles of intellectual exchange in achieving common aspirations in East Asia. This is the sort of idea that we would like to see expanded on. Prime Minister Obuchi may also be interested in promoting cultural exchange as well as intellectual exchange.
  
  Those are the backdrops to Prime Minister Obuchi's forthcoming visit to Hanoi next week.
  Related Information (Sixth ASEAN SUMMIT)
The goal of Japan and the United States of America to prevent North Korea's development of nuclear weapons
Q: Japan and the United States have decided to prevent North Korea from having nuclear weapons. Could you clarify how you would do that -- by a preemptive attack, negotiations or any other means?

Mr. Numata: Certainly, the United States of America and Japan do share the goal of preventing North Korea from following the path of nuclear weapons development. That goal is shared, not only by Japan and the United States, but also by the Republic of Korea and a number of other countries in the region. Exactly how we will go about it is not an easy question, but all the three countries that I just mentioned do believe that the so-called "Agreed Framework" between the United States and North Korea and the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) scheme do provide perhaps the only viable framework to achieve this purpose of preventing North Korea from following the path of nuclear development. That is why we have been consulting very closely with the Government of the United States and also with the Government of the Republic of Korea.

Most recently, the former Secretary of Defense William Perry of the United States of America has been visiting this area. He went to the Republic of Korea and the People's Republic of China, he was in Japan yesterday and the day before yesterday, and in our conversations with former Secretary of Defense Perry -- he met Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka and Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura, and also Secretary-General Yoshiro Mori of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) -- we reaffirmed the objective of preventing North Korea's nuclear weapons development, reaffirmed the importance of the KEDO scheme and reaffirmed the importance of continuing to be in very close touch. I do not think that any one of us is contemplating the idea of a preemptive attack -- I am not quite sure what you mean by a "preemptive attack," but if you mean actually attacking these installations, or to use a military jargon, "taking it out," I do not think we are contemplating that.
Related Information (North Korea's Missile Launch)
Negotiations between the Russian Federation and Japan regarding the conclusion of a peace treaty
Q: There are some conflicting reports as to whether President Yeltsin really said the return of the Northern Territories to Japan is out of the question. Could you shed some light on the matter?

Mr. Numata: From time to time, we start wondering to what extent we should be swayed and influenced by the very active reporting on the part of the people in the media, including the people in the Russian media. What was discussed between Prime Minister Obuchi and President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation in Moscow, when Prime Minister Obuchi made his visit, is very clear, which is that they reaffirmed a resolve to continue to make the maximum effort to conclude the peace treaty on the basis of the Tokyo Declaration by the year 2000. President Yeltsin, in fact, instructed his people to accelerate the work of this negotiation of a peace treaty. There was this Vice-Ministerial level consultation between Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Minoru Tanba and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin on 9 December, and again, they reaffirmed this resolve to continue to make maximum efforts to conclude the peace treaty by the year 2000 and to accelerate the negotiation to that end. That is where the matter stands. The status of the negotiation as I have just described it does not seem to bear much resemblance to some of the reports that you have quoted.
Related Information (Japan-Russia Relations)
Sub-critical nuclear testing being conducted by the Russian Federation and the United States of America
Q: Does Japan support the nuclear sub-critical tests being conducted by Russia and the United States?

Mr. Numata: Under the terms of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), these sub-critical tests are not banned. I will spare you the legal details of that, but Article I, Paragraph 1 of the CTBT talks about nuclear explosions -- experimental explosions and other nuclear explosions. On 2 July, the provisional secretariat of the CTBT Organization Preparatory Committee issued a statement saying that in the case of sub-critical tests, there is no nuclear explosion. As I understand it -- it becomes a bit technical -- what happens is nuclear implosion, as opposed to nuclear explosion. The CTBT secretariat further said that therefore, these kinds of tests are in conformity with Article I of the CTBT. That is the legal point and I think that legal point is widely accepted by the international community.

The second point is that the purpose of these tests is to test the safety and reliability of the nuclear weapons that already exist and that are being stored. In fact, we have made queries to both the United States' Government and the Russian Government as to the purpose of these tests and we have received replies, both from the United States' Government and the Russian Government, that they are not designed to develop new types of nuclear weapons. So, those are the facts. Therefore, when these tests have been conducted, we have not either opposed or protested these tests. At the same time, we expect that there will continue to be discussions in the international community on a whole range of questions that have to do with nuclear disarmament, and in our efforts to bring about a world free from nuclear weapons, it is possible that the nuclear tests of various kinds -- possibly including sub-critical tests -- may be taken up, in which case we will be participating in that sort of discussion.
Related Information (Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation)

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