Press Conference 22 November 2002

1. Statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi on the Suicide Bombing in Israel
2. Visit to Japan of His Excellency Mr. Lansana Conté, President of the Republic of Guinea
3. Result of the Fifth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)
4. Preparatory Conference on Peace and Reconstruction in Aceh
5. Question concerning meeting of former students to Japan from Southwest Asia
6. Question concerning luncheon speech by Minister of Unification Jeong Se-Hyun of the Republic of Korea

1. Statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi on the Suicide Bombing in Israel

   Assistant Press Secretary Jiro Okuyama: Good afternoon. Today I have several announcements that I would like to make.

   The first is the Statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the Suicide Bombing in Israel.

   The Government of Japan was shocked to hear that the suicide bombing against a bus traveling near Jerusalem on 21 November killed many civilians, and expresses its deepest condolences to the bereaved families and heartfelt sympathy to those injured by the suicide bombing. Terrorism cannot be justified for whatever reason. The Government of Japan resolutely condemns once again such an act of terrorism aimed at innocent civilians.

   It is deplorable that such a savage terror attack occurred once again, in spite of the effort to end the violence and achieve peace by international society including Japan. Japan once again strongly urges Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to make the utmost efforts to crack down on extremists, and expects that both Israelis and Palestinians will maintain their dialogue for peace and will exercise maximum restraint.

   Related Information (Statement by Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi, Minister for Foreign Affairs, on the Suicide Bombing in Israel)
   
2. Visit to Japan of His Excellency Mr. Lansana Conté, President of the Republic of Guinea

   Mr. Okuyama: The second is the Announcement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations about the visit to Japan of His Excellency Mr. Lansana Conté, President of the Republic of Guinea.

   His Excellency Mr. Lansana Conté, President of the Republic of Guinea, accompanied by a suite, will pay an official working visit from 8 to 11 December 2002.

   During his stay in Japan, the President will make a State Call on His Majesty The Emperor of Japan.

   His Majesty The Emperor will host a Court Luncheon in honor of the President. The President will also hold a meeting with Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, the Prime Minister of Japan.

   The Government of Japan sincerely welcomes the visit of the President, which will further strengthen the friendly relations existing between Japan and the Republic of Guinea.

   Related Information (Visit to Japan of His Excellency Mr. Lansana Conte, President of the Republic of Guinea (Announcement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs))
   
3. Result of the Fifth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)

   Mr. Okuyama: The third announcement is about the outcome of the Fifth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). The Fifth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention held from 11 to 15 November adopted the Program of Work in order to strengthen the biological weapons convention.

   Japan highly values this achievement. The Review Conference was resumed after an interval of a year coordination period after the Conference was suspended without any results in November last year.

   The Program of Work now adopted stipulates that a meeting of the State Parties will be held annually from 2003 to 2005 before the next Review Conference takes place in 2006 and that these meetings will discuss how to reinforce the Biological Weapons Convention in five areas, including strengthening national legislation measures and biosafety and biosecurity.

   There is now a strong international recognition of the threat from terrorism using biological weapons and the five areas now decided will clearly have possible responses to biological terrorism in their scope.

   One hundred and forty-six countries are party to the Biological Weapons Convention and it is important that such a multilateral disarmament framework includes substantial discussion on the fight against terrorism using weapons of mass destruction.

   Japan would like to make further active contributions to the discussion on the five areas utilizing its own expertise.

   Related Information (Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation)
   
4. Preparatory Conference on Peace and Reconstruction in Aceh

   Mr. Okuyama: I would also like to draw your attention to the press release issued yesterday about the Preparatory Conference on Peace and Reconstruction in Aceh.

   Japan, together with the United States and the World Bank, will host a Preparatory Conference on Peace and Reconstruction in Aceh on 3 December in Tokyo in order to assist in the efforts aimed at the peaceful resolution of conflicts in Aceh, Indonesia.

   The participants, the agenda and other matters are now being coordinated.

   Related Information (Japan-Indonesia Relations)
   
5. Question concerning meeting of former students to Japan from Southwest Asia

   Q: There will be a meeting by former students to Japan from Southwest Asia. Is it possible for non-Japanese journalists to cover the event?

   Mr. Okuyama: I understand that there will be a reception to be hosted for the former students to Japan and some press members will also be invited. I will look into the details of the press arrangements and then report back to you.

   Q: For your information, a couple of weeks ago, we had a Carib Day sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At that time, I dropped into the Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and asked its permission and I attended the press conference also and they invited me afterwards to have a chance to take a photo and it was introduced in my correspondence.

   Mr. Okuyama: Thank you very much. Any other questions?

   Related Information (Japan-Asia Relations)
   
6. Question concerning luncheon speech by Minister of Unification Jeong Se-Hyun of the Republic of Korea

   Q: At the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ), we had a major luncheon speech today. The guest was Mr. Jeong Se-Hyun, Minister of Unification of the Republic of Korea. This was a very important luncheon speech. There was one question that so many people asked which was "When will the next meeting between Japan and North Korea be scheduled for?"

   Mr. Okuyama: There is not really much news on this. At the normalization talks which were held at the end of October in Kuala Lumpur, among other things we discussed the possible dates for two meetings.

   One is for the second normalization talks as such. The suggestion from the North Korean side was at the end of November. On security consultation, the agreement was that we will hold this security consultation sometime during the month of November. Neither of them has been held yet and we are still trying to see when these two meetings can take place. No definite date has been set yet.

   Q: For your information, there was a kind of debate today, in which some journalists asked why the Government of Japan and Japanese nationals as a whole are talking so much about abduction cases out of the many subjects that might be discussed. Some people asked Minister Jeong what the situation was in his country because there that subject is never even taken up.

   Mr. Okuyama: Thank you very much for your valuable information. I think the situation in Japan is somewhat different from that of the Republic of Korea which is in its peaceful reunification process with North Korea. So I would rather refrain from commenting on what the situation is there and what they should do, especially in the current circumstances.

   Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations)