Press Conference 26 September 2000

1. Announcement on the recent elections in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
2. The visit to Japan of President Kim Dae Jung of the Republic of Korea
3. Meeting between Minister for Foreign Affairs Yohei Kono and Secretary of Defense William Cohen of the United States of America
4. Official working visit to Japan of President Hugo Banzer Suarez of the Republic of Bolivia and Mrs. Banzer
5. The 18th Japan-China Foreign Ministry Working-Level Consultations
6. Response to a previous question concerning Japan's position on democracy vis-à-vis its foreign policy stance
7. Question regarding the discussion of military issues in the joint press conference between Prime Minister Mori and President Kim Dae Jung
8. Follow-up questions relating to the visit to Japan of Defense Secretary Cohen
9. Question concerning Japan raising the issue of kidnapped Japanese citizens and North Korea's response

1. Announcement on the recent elections in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

   Press Secretary Ryuichiro Yamazaki: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I have several announcements to begin with. First, I would like to make some remarks about the recent elections still under count in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

   With respect to the elections in Yugoslavia, vote counting is still underway and no official result has been made public yet since the voting took place on 24 September.

   The Government of Japan strongly hopes that free and fair elections are held and that the will of the people be fully reflected.

   We have been informed that various kinds of irregularities by authorities were reported in many parts of Yugoslavia. We have also received reports which cast doubt about the freedom and fairness of the elections. We are concerned about these reports.

   Despite such circumstances, it has been reported that a large number of Yugoslav people called for democratic change and supported the opposition candidate, Mr. Vojislav Kostunica. Japan believes that this deserves particular attention.

   Japan has urged Yugoslavia to make its early transition toward democracy through the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit, the G8 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New York, and through other occasions. To this end, we have stressed the importance of and called for fair elections in the FRY.

   As the presidency of G8, we have been working closely with other G8 members, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the international community as a whole, so that all democratic forces in Yugoslavia will be able to play an increasingly important part for the realization of democracy and stability of Yugoslavia.

   Japan urges Yugoslav authorities to seriously accept the will of the voters as well as the international community, which are in favor of democratic change in the FRY. We also urge Yugoslav authorities to take early steps toward democracy at home in coordination with the international community, while refraining from any measures which would increase tension and be counter to democratic change.

   Related Information (Japan-Serbia and Montenegro Relations)
   
2. The visit to Japan of President Kim Dae Jung of the Republic of Korea

   Mr. Yamazaki: Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and President Kim Dae Jung of the Republic of Korea gave a joint press conference toward the late afternoon of Saturday 23 September, and the two leaders answered in detail the various questions posed to them, especially regarding the Korean Peninsula and relations with North Korea. Today, I would like to take this opportunity to focus more on the economic side and other areas which were also taken up at the meeting, because the Korean Peninsula situation was dealt with at the joint press conference.

   I hope you will take note of the various items taken up where the two countries are cooperating in the economic field. I will pick several items at random. Regarding the so-called Free Trade Agreement (FTA) idea, one non-governmental meeting with academics and others have issued a joint study on this topic. A second meeting will be held in a few days time. The two leaders proposed that it would be beneficial to set up a Japan-Republic of Korea FTA Business Forum, where most of the members would be from the business side, so that they could also discuss this issue and identify mutual advantages, as well as how to proceed with this idea.

   Another economic item was that it was agreed to accelerate the negotiations at the officials' level aiming to conclude by the end of the year the bilateral investment protection agreement.

   Another area that was agreed upon was the Japan-Korea Information Technology Cooperation Initiative. This two-page document describes the various fields in which our two countries can help each other in this very important area of information technology (IT).

   An important area which interested President Kim Dae Jung was the problem of the availability of seats in the civil aviation air route between our two countries. Some of you may have experienced difficulties in reserving a seat to fly to Seoul due to the high load factor. President Kim Dae Jung referred to the shuttle between Washington and New York in the United States and said that if something like a shuttle could be established between our two countries, I would imagine between Tokyo and Seoul, it would not only help rectify a tight situation, but also have a positive effect on expanding people-to-people exchanges between our two countries. Prime Minister Mori noted that with the co-hosting of the coming World Cup in 2002, we will explore how to expand the availability of airplane seats between our two countries.

   In relation to the World Cup, it was noted that the year 2002 has been established as the year of exchanges between Japan and the Republic of Korea, and we will do our best to make this a successful endeavor.

   From our side, we mentioned the fact that in relation to including the Korean language as one of the foreign languages that one can choose for the entrance examination prepared by the University Entrance Examination Center, we hoped to realize this by January 2002 and no later than January 2003, which is during the fiscal year of 2002.

   Other subjects, including the issue of participation in local elections by the Koreans living in Japan, were covered by the press conference, so I will not repeat that here.

   One point as regards the third Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), which is to take place in Seoul in mid-October, it was agreed that we would continue our close cooperation in the final preparatory stages as well as on global issues, such as narcotics, terrorism, anti-piracy, and the environment.

   The visit was very cordial, and the formal meeting on Saturday and the informal breakfast that the two leaders had were very productive in further expanding an already close relationship of cooperation.

   Related Information (Visit to Japan of His Excellency the President of the Republic of Korea, Kim Dae Jung)
   
3. Meeting between Minister for Foreign Affairs Yohei Kono and Secretary of Defense William Cohen of the United States of America

   Mr. Yamazaki: Secretary of Defense William Cohen of the United States of America had a meeting with Minister for Foreign Affairs Yohei Kono on 22 September. This took place only a few weeks after the 2+2 Meeting in New York, so there was nothing especially new per se, but there were several matters that were covered.

   Among other things, Kadena Airbase Lapcom air control in Okinawa to be transferred to the Japanese side has progressed to a stage where the technicians can actually start to participate. Also on night landing practice (NLP), which from time to time causes noise problems to the local Japanese people living around the base, at the press conference at the American Embassy in Tokyo, Defense Secretary Cohen expressed his regret that this has from time to time caused problems to the local community and said that from now on they would try their best to take into consideration the sentiments of those living near the bases.

   Also on the Okinawa base issues, as was discussed at the 2+2 Meeting, it was confirmed again that we would continue our close cooperation on these issues.

   As regards the host nation support agreement, which was signed in New York at the time of the 2+2 Meeting, Defense Secretary Cohen met with some Japanese parliamentarians and explained from his perspective that he hoped that the Japanese Diet would be able to promptly ratify this important agreement.

   Defense Secretary Cohen had also visited the Republic of Indonesia and the Republic of Korea, and gave us a quick debriefing of how Indonesia was trying to come to grips with the recent unfortunate incident in which three members of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Office in West Timor were unfortunately killed, and how to disarm the militia and bring the culprits to justice.

   As for the Korean Peninsula, Defense Secretary Cohen told us that President Kim Dae Jung had said that it would be very important to maintain an American presence even after unification between the North and South. Defense Secretary Cohen commented that it was important to maintain the balance between the North and the South, and that, in his view, the military capacity of North Korea had not decreased.

   Related Information (Japan-The United States Relations)
   
4. Official working visit to Japan of President Hugo Banzer Suarez of the Republic of Bolivia and Mrs. Banzer

   Mr. Yamazaki: President Hugo Banzer Suarez of the Republic of Bolivia is to visit Japan from 3-6 October. Japan has good long-standing relations with the Republic of Bolivia, including last year, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of immigration from Japan to Bolivia. At present, about 10,000 Bolivians of Japanese descent are very active in all spheres of Bolivian society.

   President Banzer and Mrs. Banzer, coming on 3 October, will pay a call on Their Imperial Majesties, The Emperor and Empress of Japan on the morning of 4 October. Their Majesties will host a luncheon the same day, and President Banzer will meet with Prime Minister Mori later that day, followed by a welcome dinner at the Prime Minister's residence. On 5 October, President Banzer will also meet with some Japanese business people, as well as participating in some cultural events before leaving on 6 October.

   Related Information (Japan-Bolivia Relations)
   
5. The 18th Japan-China Foreign Ministry Working-Level Consultations

   Mr. Yamazaki: In relation to the People's Republic of China, I would like to mention two items.

   One is that on 25 September in Tokyo, the 18th Japan-China Foreign Ministry Working-Level Consultations took place. Our side was headed by Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Ryozo Kato, and the Chinese side was headed by Assistant Minister Wang Yi of the People's Republic of China. It was timely to hold these consultations just before the upcoming visit of Premier Zhu Rhongji of the People's Republic of China, who is scheduled to visit Japan from 12-17 October.

   It was with a common recognition that the visit by Premier Zhu must be very successful and forward-looking that both sides agreed that this was the most important bilateral diplomatic event for this year. Given some feelings in Japan as to recent relations with China, we thought that it would be extremely important to make this visit positive. The Chinese side said that the purpose of Premier Zhu's visit was, on the political side, to create a relationship of mutual understanding and trust, and on the economic side, a relationship of equality and mutual benefit. We of course agreed to that.

   Deputy Foreign Minister Kato and Assistant Minister Wang reviewed the situation concerning the 33 items, which were agreed in 1998 when President Jiang Zemin of the People's Republic of China visited Japan, and were also followed up last year when former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi visited China. Let me pick up a few of these points.

   The first is to continue the momentum of mutual visits, especially high-level ones, and the Chinese side indicated that Premier Zhu, during his visit to Japan, will extend an invitation to Prime Minister Mori to visit China. We will work out a mutually convenient schedule which should fit in well with promoting mutual visits.

   The issue of maritime survey activities and how to establish a framework for prior notification relates to my second announcement vis-à-vis China. On 27-28 September in Beijing, officials from the two governments will discuss the Law of the Sea and also this mutual prior notification framework. During the consultations held on 25 September, it was agreed that we must move forward to come to an agreement on establishing such framework on this issue.

   Also, it was mentioned that on the important issue of the development of Western China, it was our expectation that at the time of Premier Zhu's visit to Japan that some sort of grand design would be shown from the Chinese side on this issue. To this Assistant Minister Wang said that strategically, this issue of developing Western China is of high importance and he hoped that Japan would also put priority on it.

   IT was also mentioned as another potential important area in relation to economic development in China, and we must try and work out ways in which we can cooperate.

   On the whole issue of official development assistance (ODA) per se, we explained to the Chinese side that there is among some quarters in Japan a rather severe atmosphere vis-à-vis ODA to China, so we asked them to further promote public relations in order to inform the Chinese people of the Japanese ODA contribution to China. Assistant Minister Wang said that it is 20 years since the normalization between our two countries and the ODA that China has received from Japan has certainly greatly contributed to the modernization of China. It was also reconfirmed that we should conduct frequent security dialogue to increase our mutual trust as was mentioned during the recent trip to China by Foreign Minister Kono. It was also mentioned that the year 2002 coincides with the 30th anniversary of normalization and that we should make this a memorable year.

   The idea of a hotline connecting Japan and Chinese leaders was discussed when Foreign Minister Kono went to China recently, and we hope that we can reach some sort of conclusion on this.

   On the World Trade Organization (WTO), against the background of the United States Senate recently passing permanent normal trade relations to China, we would look forward to China's early accession to the WTO. They said that they would certainly appreciate Japanese cooperation and that they would like to learn from Japan, which has more experience in this area.

   Finally, as I just mentioned, on 27 and 28 September the third consultations on the Law of the Sea will take place, and we will use this opportunity to discuss how to establish mutual prior notification on maritime survey activities. Within the realm of the Law of the Sea, we will discuss how to set up the boundaries for the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) as well as for the continental shelf.

   Related Information (Japan-China Relations)
   
6. Response to a previous question concerning Japan's position on democracy vis-à-vis its foreign policy stance

   Mr. Yamazaki: In the ODA Charter, which was adopted by Cabinet decision in June 1992, there are four criteria regarding ODA in particular: (1) environmental conservation and development should be pursued in tandem; (2) any use of ODA for military purposes or for aggravation of international conflicts should be avoided; (3) full attention should be paid to trends of military expenditures in recipient countries, where development and production of weapons of mass destruction and missiles and the export and import of arms, so as to maintain and strengthen international peace and stability, and from the viewpoint that developing countries should place appropriate priority on the allocation of their resources in their own economic and social development; and (4) full attention should be paid to efforts for promoting the democratization and introduction of a market-oriented economy and the situation regarding the securing of basic human rights and freedom in the recipient country.

   So, already in 1992 when the ODA Charter was adopted, the process of democratization was included as one of the checkpoints. As a responsible member of the United Nations community, we have done our best through various peacekeeping operations (PKO), observing elections and helping nation building with a view to promoting democracy and the market economy in the country concerned.

   Related Information (Japan's ODA)
   
7. Question regarding the discussion of military issues in the joint press conference between Prime Minister Mori and President Kim Dae Jung

   Q: I did not have the chance to see the press conference with Prime Minister Mori and President Kim. Do you have any idea if they discussed military issues in the South and North?

   Mr. Yamazaki: The military situation per se was not really taken up either at the press conference or at the meeting itself. There was some mention about how President Kim Dae Jung viewed the present situation in North Korea, the regime of Secretary General of the Korean Workers' Party Kim Jong Il of North Korea, as being very stable although it faced economic difficulties.

   Related Information (Visit to Japan of His Excellency the President of the Republic of Korea, Kim Dae Jung)
   
8. Follow-up questions relating to the visit to Japan of Defense Secretary Cohen

   Q: Did Mr. Cohen say that North Korea has increased its military preparedness?

   Mr. Yamazaki: No, he did not say "increased," but he said that the capabilities of North Korea have not changed.

   Q: Does Japan have the same view on this issue?

   Mr. Yamazaki: I would not want to say one way or the other, but we are always keenly watching any developments regarding any aspect of North Korea. The basic position of our present relations with North Korea is that we would like to proceed further with the normalization talks, although this includes several issues that need to be taken up. We would certainly like to have the next round of talks soon and to proceed forward towards normalization.

   Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations)
   
9. Question concerning Japan raising the issue of kidnapped Japanese citizens and North Korea's response

   Q: I read a report from a North Korean news agency which said that they did not like it that Japan raised the issue of the kidnapped Japanese and would stop the search for these people. Do you have any comment on this?

   Mr. Yamazaki: I do not want to escalate press reports. As I just said, the normalization talks are in process, and this is the proper channel that we have with the North Korean side, so we would certainly like to use the next opportunity to see how much further we can proceed on this issue of normalization.

   Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations)