Press Conference by the Press Secretary 8 September, 1998

1. Candidacy of His Excellency Mr. Koichi Matsuura of Japan to the post of Director-General of UNESCO
2. Response of the Government of Japan to launching of a missile by North Korea
3. Possible proceedings at the United Nations Security Council regarding the launching of a missile by North Korea
4. Possible coordination between Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States in response to the launching of the missile by North Korea
5. Possible additional measures against North Korea
6. Situation of diplomats of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Islamic State of Afghanistan
7. Upcoming visit to Japan by officials of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
8. Support by the Government of Japan for reform in the Russian Federation

1. Candidacy of His Excellency Mr. Koichi Matsuura of Japan to the post of Director-General of UNESCO

   Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: Good afternoon. I have a couple of points at the beginning. The first is about the election of the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Japan has decided to put up His Excellency Mr. Koichi Matsuura, currently Ambassador of Japan to the French Republic as a candidate for the next Director-General of UNESCO and to formally solicit the support of other countries. We have taken this decision with the aim of taking the lead in reevaluating and reforming UNESCO, which is the sole international organization that deals with cultural affairs and it is our intention to make our utmost efforts in the election campaign. A few words about Ambassador Matsuura. He has had a diversity of experiences in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was Consul General in Hong Kong and then he was Director-General of the Economic Cooperation Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then he was Director-General of the North American Affairs Bureau. Then he was Deputy Minister Economic for Foreign Affairs and he was the sherpa for the Group of Seven (G7) Summit process. Then he has been Ambassador to France since July 1994 and he is totally bilingual in English and French so he is making use of his French at the moment. He is perfectly capable of doing similar things in English as well. That is my first point.

2. Response of the Government of Japan to launching of a missile by North Korea

   Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: My second point is about the North Korean missile launch. A couple of things have been happening in the multilateral arena concerning this. Firstly, it is our intention to try to raise this issue in the United Nations, specifically in the Security Council and with that in mind, Permanent Representative Ambassador Hisashi Owada to the United Nations, sent a letter to the President of the Security Council, Swedish Ambassador Hans Dahlgren, on 4 September asking that this letter be circulated to the members of the Security Council. And the main points of the letter are as follows. Firstly, describing the fact as we understand it, that is describing the fact of this launch of the two-stage ballistic missile, the first stage of which probably fell into the sea without reaching Japan, and the second stage, at this point the second stage, landing in the high seas in the Pacific ocean off the coast of Sanriku, and the warhead, the third stage as it were, landing farther off the coast of Sanriku. The letter also makes the point that the Government of Japan considers that this act directly Affects the security of Japan and the peace and stability of the entire Northeast Asian Region. It also raises a serious concern about the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.

   The letter also points out that this launch took place without prior warning and that the missile landed in the vicinity of frequently used sea lanes and we consider this action as being in disregard of the norms of international law relating to the use of the high seas, that is under existing rules of international law; the freedom of the high seas shall be exercised by all states with due regard for the interests of other states in their exercise of the freedom of the high seas. In launching this missile without prior warning, North Korea ignored the fundamental principles of the Convention on International Civil Aviation and also the Convention of the International Maritime Organization to which North Korea is a party. The letter also says that the Government of Japan had lodged its strong protest with North Korea but it has not as yet received any direct response from its authorities. That still remains the case. Finally, the letter says that the Government of Japan wishes to place on record its view that maintenance of the international regime on the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including their delivery systems, is essential to the maintenance of peace and security. Now I have just mentioned the Convention on International Civil Aviation, what is popularly known as the Chicago Convention, and in that connection, we have been in touch with President Assad Kotaite of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the body which implements the Convention on International Civil Aviation, asking that President Kotaite request the North Korean authorities not to repeat these acts and to abide by the Chicago Convention and its related rules. Now what is important in this context is the fact, as I referred to earlier in reference to Ambassador Owada's letter to the President of the Security Council, that this launching took place without any prior warning.

   I am aware that there are some reports emanating from North Korea that they claim that they launched a satellite. We have not been able to verify it. But the question of possible hazards to civil aviation do apply, whether the object being launched is a missile or a launching rocket for satellites. Materially it is about the same thing and in that connection, I would like to note that when Japan launches it satellites, purely for civil purposes as you know, we do follow strictly the rule of notifying the authorities concerned in the various countries which may be near the area where the launched rocket may fall. In fact, the National Space Development Agency (NSDA) is in the habit of giving prior notice to the authorities concerned, at least two days before the actual launching at 1500. That is what we have done, for example, with respect to the launching of the SS-521-1 rocket from Tanegashima on 5 February. That is what we have also done with respect to the launching of the H-2 rocket from the North pacific on 20 February, to take recent examples. We also know that this practice has been followed by many other countries, including the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) at the height of the Cold War. When they test- launched missiles, they gave prior warning.

3. Possible proceedings at the United Nations Security Council regarding the launching of a missile by North Korea

   Q: What is Japan hoping to achieve at the United Nations Security Council?

   Mr. Numata: Through this letter from Ambassador Owada, which I believe has been circulated to the members of the Security Council, what we would like to do is to bring this to the attention of the Security Council, which has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security under Article XXIV of the United Nations Charter. Because we feel that from the viewpoint of the security of Japan and also the peace and stability of Northeast Asia, and also from the viewpoint of the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, this is a very serious matter indeed and we find it very regrettable and as such we do feel that this does deserve adequate attention by the members of the Security Council. Exactly how this may be done, exactly how the Security Council may address this is currently the subject of informal consultations with the relevant members of the Security Council. The consultations are still ongoing.

   Q: Could you say the range of things they might be looking for?

   Mr. Numata: Well, at this point I think it might be a bit too early to say. There may be several different ways in which the attention of the Security Council members may be brought to this, and the concern on their part may be expressed. The modality for that and so forth is currently a subject of informal consultations.

4. Possible coordination between Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States in response to the launching of the missile by North Korea

   Q: There will be coordination between Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States concerning the North Korean missile launching. I would like to know if there is going to be a response from these three countries in case North Korea launches another missile toward Japan? There seem to be talks in Japan and in the media that Japan needs to do something to defend itself against missiles, such as the TMD of the United States and to have spy satellites. Are these under consideration?

   Mr. Numata: Firstly, of course this is a matter of shared serious concern, not just to Japan but also to the Republic of Korea and also to the United States and we do feel that we need to act in a concerted manner in the light of something like this, with the United States, with the Republic of Korea and as I mentioned in the context of the United Nations Security Council, with other countries as well. To the extent that this is a matter which directly effects the situation in Northeast Asia or peace and stability of Northeast Asia, we have been in close touch with both the Republic of Korea and the United States.

   You may recall that Foreign Minister Hong Soon Yung of the Republic of Korea was in Tokyo last week and shortly before that Defense Minister Kwon Oh Jong of the Republic of Korea was also in Tokyo. We have had useful bilateral discussions with these ministers from the Republic of Korea. With the United States there was a telephonic exchange between Secretary of State Madeline K. Albright of the United States and Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura on the evening of 4 September and they reaffirmed their shared concern about this. We are in the process of organizing a sort of senior official-level trilateral meeting with the Republic of Korea and the United States. The time and venue are yet to be determined. So we will be consulting very closely with both the United States and the Republic of Korea.    However, with respect to the latter part of your first question which is what would we do, possibly together, in the event of a second launch by North Korea, in the first place, we earnestly and fervently hope that such a launch would not take place, although again there are some sort of speculations as to the possibility of a second launch, but I do not think we have any hard evidence to support that. What is very important for us is to send an unequivocal message to North Korea that a repetition of such an act will not be tolerated. So, beyond that I do not think I can go into the question of what the possible responses might be in that sort of a hypothetical situation.

   With respect to your second question, yes, one of the points that have been brought out by this recent event is the question of our own systems of defense and information collection. That has been a subject of very active debate, both within the Government and in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). One of the points which is emerging from this debate is this question of the possible desirability of a satellite observation capability; I would not use the words "spy satellite" because that seems to sort of prejudice the case from the beginning, but that is something that we will have to look at. That is some sort of general purpose, possibly multipurpose satellite which would make it possible for us to collect information, not just on military matters, but possibly in a host of other areas as well. That is something that will have to be looked at further. One other point which has surfaced in the debate is this whole question of ballistic missile defense. That has been a subject of some study within the Government for some time and this is something that we will need to be looking at further. I think it is still early to tell where that study may lead us, but the recent event has given rise to voices in some quarters that we should indeed be looking at that sort of possibility seriously.

5. Possible additional measures against North Korea

   Q: Is the Government of Japan considering sanctions of stopping maritime traffic between Japan and North Korea and the prohibition of transfer of money to that country?

   Mr. Numata: When Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka announced the set of measures that we were taking in response to this launch of the missile, that announcement included a statement to the effect that, depending on further developments, the Government as a whole may be looking at the possibility of taking further measures. That is where the matter stands. At this point, I am not able to say what sort of specific actions we might be contemplating further. It all depends on further developments. I think you are aware that one of the measures that we have taken shortly after this initial announcement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Nonaka about suspending our normalization talks and so forth, was to suspend chartered flights between North Korea and Japan. So that is the step we have taken in the area of transport and that is against the background of the regime regarding international civil aviation in general and I went into some detail on that at the beginning of my press conference.

   Q: If the Chief Cabinet Secretary suggested that further measures may be taken, would these further measures include the stopping of sea traffic and the transfer of money?

   Mr. Numata: Further measures by definition are subject to further consideration, so you do not start by defining them.

   Q: Did the Japanese Government give any credence to the North Korean claim that the launch of last week was of a satellite and in what ways have you attempted to ascertain if it is true or not and how difficult a process is that?

   Mr. Numata: Not being either a weapons expert or let alone a missile expert or space expert, it is very difficult to answer that question clearly. Let me say that we have not been able to ascertain that what was launched was a satellite as claimed by North Korea. Our authorities and authorities of friendly countries who are expert in this sort of thing, have not been able to identify the satellite orbiting. We have not been able to find it nor have we been able to hear this music broadcast so there is no way of ascertaining that it was in fact a satellite and we are still in the process of analyzing all the information that is available. We have not come to any kind of conclusion. Our defense authorities, I think are inclined to feel that there is only a small possibility that it was in fact a satellite.

   What is more to the point is that, and I think I alluded to this earlier, in terms of the seriousness of the issue, whether or not it was a satellite or some kind of vehicle to launch a satellite or a missile carrying warheads, does not seem to make too much difference in the sense that -- I referred earlier to this problem of hazards to navigation or aviation and the rules of customary international law; freedom of the high seas needs to be exercised with due regard for the interests of other countries. And this kind of launch taking place without prior warning, cannot be described as a case of paying due regard for the interests of other countries. That is what the problem is. That is what is described in Ambassador Owada's letter as the contravention of the principles of these related conventions. So that is one point. Another point is that, whether it is a satellite or whether it is a missile, North Korea apparently has the capability to launch a delivery vehicle over a considerable range and North Korea in their statement also has alluded to the possibility of transforming their satellite-launching capability into some military use in the future. With these in mind and also in the context of the suspicion that has been there for some time about North Korea's nuclear development and the development of other weapons of mass destruction, it cannot but pose a serious concern, not only to Japan, but also to Northeast Asia in terms of the region's peace and security.

   Q: There are more reports today about a possible second missile launch tomorrow. Do you have any information at all about that?

   Mr. Numata: No, I mean nothing which would enable me to say anything with certainty. There was a report, I think it was yesterday, through ITAR-TASS, that there might be a second launch on 9 September. That first report came at 15:00 Moscow time, yesterday. However, 12 minutes later, the same agency reported quoting Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation sources, that the Foreign Ministry of Russia had no information concerning the alleged second launching by North Korea on 9 September. In fact, according to this report, the Foreign Ministry of Russia said that they had no information from North Korea through the diplomatic channel. Yesterday evening we did get in touch with the Foreign Ministry of Russia and the Foreign Ministry said to us that they did not have any sort of information or communication from North Korea on a possible second launch.

   Q: Could you tell us whether the ships that were dispatched in response to the first missile launch are still there for a possible second launch?

   Mr. Numata: I do not have every single detail of that, but some of them may still be there.

   Q: Have the three stages been recovered?

   Mr. Numata: No, not to my knowledge. Perhaps it is more difficult to try to find them at sea rather than on the ground. Forgive me for my irreverence, but somebody was saying that even if you fly to the area, you cannot really look for a hole in the sea.

6. Situation of diplomats of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Islamic State of Afghanistan

   Q: In late July, more than ten Iranian diplomats and journalists disappeared in northern Afghanistan. Some say the Taliban kidnaped them. We are asking the United Nations to investigate this. Is there any statement from Japan on this matter?

   Mr. Numata: Yes. Let me try to respond to your question in two parts, that is on this specific case of the whereabouts of more than ten diplomats of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and secondly with respect to the situation in the Islamic State of Afghanistan in general. We are concerned about this reported disappearance of Iranians, including diplomats, and if Taliban is indeed detaining these people, that does pose a serious problem in terms of international law. It is with that in mind that we became a co-sponsor of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1193 which calls for a safe and dignified passage out of Afghanistan for those people who are missing. We obviously would like to see this question resolved as soon as possible and we are trying to do what we can on our part to ascertain the safety and the location of the people concerned. And in that connection we are very keenly aware of the concern on the part of Iran and we have been in contact through our own channels to those people who are related to Taliban to convey that concern. We do strongly hope that this issue will be resolved peacefully and as soon as possible among the parties concerned. Now, all this is taking place against the background of heightening conflict and tension in Afghanistan and with respect to the intensified fighting in Afghanistan, we issued a statement on 14 August, a statement in my name, in which we express our strong hope that the Taliban and the other Afghan factions stop fighting as soon as possible and restart direct peace talks considering the best interests of their country as well those of the surrounding countries, including Iran. We have always been calling for the resolution of the Afghan issue through peaceful means and we have also been opposed to intervention in Afghanistan, including the use of military force by external forces. There is no change in that position and I might add this point; it was also included in the Security Council Resolution 1193, which we co-sponsored. So, to sum up, Japan strongly hopes that all the parties concerned act with restraint so as not to aggravate or further heighten the tension in that region.

7. Upcoming visit to Japan by officials of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

   Q: I heard that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is going to be coming to Japan this month.

   Mr. Numata: I think the report I saw referred to October, but I need to check that. I do not think there is any date fixed yet.

8. Support by the Government of Japan for reform in the Russian Federation

   Q: Concerning the unstable situation in Russia, where does Japan stand on these developments?

   Mr. Numata: We continue to watch it with very keen interest. I think that is what I would like to say. The second voting has taken place concerning the appointment of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and the parties concerned in Moscow are in the process of intensive negotiation or coordination with respect to what they may be doing in the third round of voting. As such, the situation continues to be very fluid so we shall continue to watch it with very keen interest but what is important is that there be a new cabinet in the Russian Federation as soon as possible and that this path of reform be maintained and the situation in Russia be stabilized. With that in mind, it is our intention to continue to support Russia's efforts towards reform. It is in that context that we continue to attach importance to the continuing dialogue between Japan and Russia and that is why we are still actively preparing for Foreign Minister Koumura's visit to Russia in the middle of this month.

   Q: You mentioned that Japan will be giving support to Russia's reform efforts. Will that support be psychological support or financial support?

   Mr. Numata: Support can take many forms. I think when President William Jefferson Clinton of the United States went to Moscow one of the themes that was emphasized by President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation was political support for Russia's reform efforts. Firstly, I think it is very important for us to support the principle of reform, support the basic direction of reform, to encourage the commitment to reform. Beyond that, I think support can take many forms. I think we are keenly interested in seeing what is happening and with Foreign Minister Koumura going to Moscow shortly, I think it will presumably provide us with a very good opportunity to see first hand exactly what is happening there which will help us in turn formulate our various ways of supporting them.

   Q: Will you refrain from providing Russia with any more financial support? Do you think the intention will be the same for the G7 when they meet?

   Mr. Numata: Well, this is the whole question of the Russian economic situation and the turmoil in their financial market and so forth. It is a matter of shared concern to the G7 countries and it is with that in mind that when Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi had a chance to talk with Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom on 31 August, Prime Minister Obuchi said to Prime Minister Blair that this is something on which G7 countries should be consulting closely together. The Government of the United Kingdom, which still has the Chair of the G7, is apparently contemplating the idea of a senior official-level G7 consultation with senior officials on both the foreign policy side as well as on the financial side. I think they are now in the process of trying to arrange a meeting and we expect to hear about that shortly.