Press Conference 21 January 2003

1. Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi to visit Okinawa Island
2. Question concerning apology to be published by Asahi Shimbun
3. Question concerning situation in the Republic of Iraq
4. Question concerning visit to Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees of the United Nations
5. Question concerning Minister for Foreign Affairs Kawaguchi's visit to Okinawa
6. Questions concerning meeting between special envoy Alexander Losyukov of the Russian Federation and General Secretary Kim Jong Il of North Korea

1. Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi to visit Okinawa Island

   Press Secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima: Good afternoon, thank you very much for coming to this briefing. Today, I have one announcement I would like to make.

   It is that Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi will visit Okinawa on 2 February. While in Okinawa, Foreign Minister Kawaguchi will pay a visit to Governor Keiichi Inamine of Okinawa Prefecture and have a talk with the Area Coordinator of American forces in Okinawa, Lieutenant General Wallace Gregson.

   For your information, on the day preceding her visit to Okinawa, 1 February, Foreign Minister Kawaguchi will attend a town meeting to be held in the city of Fukuoka. The topics to be discussed at this town meeting will be Japan's relations with East Asia. The Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to Japan, His Excellency, Mr. Domingo L. Siazon, Jr., will participate at this meeting as a guest commentator.

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2. Question concerning apology to be published byAsahi Shimbun

   Q: In regard to Japanese abductees, I understand that there is some controversy between the Japanese media and one of the returnees. I do not know the details of what happened, but there is a general feeling that this abduction case is a bit overheated. It is a Japanese national feeling. It seems people are refraining from commenting on it.

   On the other hand, it is very surprising that even newspaper companies such as Asahi are not only apologizing publicly, but are going to publish an entire full-page apology.

   Is it fair from the viewpoint of freedom of the press? What is your comment on this?

   Mr. Takashima: Actually, I have no comment on that.

   In addition, I am afraid that I am not sure which case you are referring to.

   Q: Apparently, they say that there was some misunderstanding between the family of an abductee and one of the newspaper's correspondents. They apparently had a conversation. One part included a very confidential subject, not to be politicized, but then it was published, so I understand that this is the source of confusion and controversy.

   Mr. Takashima: We recognize that theAsahi Shimbunofficially expressed its apology in its paper, and that is the only comment I can make. I do not have any further comment on that.

   Q: Actually, since this is a Japanese domestic matter, we are not too concerned about it. From the viewpoint of the freedom of press, however, this is very surprising. A big newspaper company like Asahi, they not only bowed, but I understand that in one or two days, they are going to publish a full-page apology.

   Mr. Takashima: Let me refer you to theAsahi Shimbun,because they are the ones who know everything. We have no knowledge on the case.

   Q: It is very unusual.

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3. Question concerning situation in the Republic of Iraq

   Q: There was some report a few days ago about Secretary General Taku Yamasaki of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He said that Japan was ready to share with the United States in the war against Iraq, even though there has been no resolution from the United Nations. What is your comment on this?

   Mr. Takashima: I do not think that the comment you referred to is a correct quotation of what Mr. Yamasaki has said. He did not say that Japan would share with the United States in the war.

   My understanding is that Secretary General Yamasaki said that it was preferable to have further action at the United Nations Security Council, but if there was concrete evidence of so-called wrongdoing or some violation on the side of the Republic of Iraq vis-à-vis the UN Security Council resolutions, then Japan would have to consider it. If there is any sort of military action, we would not share but we would recognize that there was such a violation.

   Further, for your information, Japan has not decided whether to participate in any sort of military action against Iraq since no decision has been taken anywhere on whether military action should be taken. However, we are studying and examining all the possibilities: what sort of actions, what sort of measures or what should be undertaken, if and when military action is taken against Iraq.

   Q: Is that the current situation now, that real action will be taken?

   Mr. Takashima: We recognize that the inspections are still underway and that the UN Security Council is still having discussions and waiting for the report on 27 January from the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the results of their inspections. Until then, we understand that there will be no decision taken by the UN Security Council.

   Further, we do not know what will happen at the Security Council after 27 January, because we recognize that there were different types of views expressed by the members of the Security Council yesterday in New York, where the Security Council held a special session with the foreign ministers.

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4. Question concerning visit to Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees of the United Nations

   Q: I would just like to ask about the visit yesterday and today by the UN Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Can you tell us a little about the agenda, what issues are being discussed that right now pertain to Japan?

   In relation to that, referring to the news of the 15 or so North Koreans who escaped from North Korea and were taken into custody by the People's Republic of China, what is Japan's response to this?

   Mr. Takashima: First, my understanding is that the Assistant High Commissioner of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) was scheduled to visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet with officials of the Foreign Ministry. However, I do not have any reports on the results of the meeting. I believe that the topics to be discussed were the relations between the Government of Japan and the UNHCR, including the financial contribution from the Japanese side.

   Second, on the issue you just referred to, the people who defected from North Korea to China, the Government of Japan previously referred those kinds of cases to the international body in the past. However, nothing had emerged out of the discussions, and currently there are no discussions underway between the Government of Japan and other international agencies on the case you have just referred to.

   Q: International bodies including UNHCR?

   Mr. Takashima: Yes.

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5. Question concerning Minister for Foreign Affairs Kawaguchi's visit to Okinawa

   Q: On the visit by Foreign Minister Kawaguchi to Okinawa, is the newly appointed Ambassador to Okinawa Hashimoto accompanying her?

   Mr. Takashima: The newly appointed Ambassador to Okinawa is Mr. Sadaaki Numata, and he will be there.

   Q: He was a former Press Secretary, was he not?

   Mr. Takashima: Yes, and his predecessor, Mr. Hiroshi Hashimoto, was also Press Secretary.

   Q: Did both parties announce the agenda and what will be discussed?

   Mr. Takashima: Not particularly, because this is the second visit by Foreign Minister Kawaguchi to Okinawa, and this is part of her routine activities to have a close consultation with the Governor of Okinawa and also the person in charge of the coordination of the activities of the American forces in Okinawa.

   Q: For your information, I visited Okinawa a few months ago, and I had a special interest in the island. I found that it was a very peaceful, sunny island, but the economic situation is very bad, and I am now writing an article on this. I am thinking that the Government of Japan must do something about this island, so I am very interested in what is being discussed and what will come out of the discussion.

   Mr. Takashima: Thank you very much for your information.

   Q: Will the Ambassador of the Philippines be giving a speech at the Fukuoka town meeting?

   Mr. Takashima: He will be invited as a commentator. He will give his comments on Japan's relations with East Asia.

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6. Questions concerning meeting between special envoy Alexander Losyukov of the Russian Federation and General Secretary Kim Jong Il of North Korea

   Q: Has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs been informed about the content of the meeting between the Russian envoy and North Korea?

   Mr. Takashima: We do not have any information regarding the meeting between special envoy Alexander Losyukov of the Russian Federation and General Secretary Kim Jong Il of North Korea except what has been reported in the press.

   Q: On that meeting, press reports pointed to General Secretary Kim Jong Il being favorable to the approach by the Russians to offer security guarantees if they withdrew and stopped developing nuclear weapons. Today as well, North Korea officials are meeting their counterparts from the Republic of Korea in Seoul.

   There seems to be some movement in terms of the discussions between North Korea and Russia and the Republic of Korea. In light of these talks, are you more confident that there will be solutions to the problem in the next week or so? To what degree are you confident that this is moving forward and the issue of North Korea will come down a notch on the list of nations that present a risk to Japan?

   Mr. Takashima: We are pleased to see countries, including Russia and the Republic of Korea, engaged in direct dialogue with North Korea in order to resolve this issue diplomatically and peacefully. We hope that the North Korean side will respond positively to the calls of the international community to firstly dismantle all their nuclear development programs and return to the position of a responsible member of the international community.

   As for Japan, we are still waiting for North Korea's reply to reopen the talks on normalization of the relations between Japan and North Korea.

   Q: Just one thing I wanted to check on this talk about North Korea having nuclear weapons. The evidence for this is very scant. There was a CIA report that said that they might possibly have nuclear weapons. North Korea has denied that they have or admitted that they do have them.

   What is Japan's position on how close North Korea is to acquiring or developing nuclear weapons? How many years do you think it will take?

   Mr. Takashima: We do not have any precise information on whether North Korea really possesses nuclear weapons as such. However, we understand that North Korea admitted that they were engaged in a nuclear development program using uranium enrichment devices. That admission was given when Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly visited North Korea back in October.

   At the same time, we do understand that North Korea has a plutonium development program in Yongbyon that had been frozen since 1994. Unfortunately, recently they broke the seals and expelled inspectors of the IAEA from the country. Although we recognize that North Korea stated that they have no program for the production of nuclear weapons, we are still worried about the situation, because there is no inspection going on at the moment by the international body.

   Q: How much time should North Korea be given before the international community takes further action? The IAEA is still waiting for a response, but clearly, the international community cannot just sit around forever waiting for a solution. How long is the time limit?

   Mr. Takashima: Japan has not set any kind of deadline. It is my understanding that no country or international body has set a deadline yet. So I simply could not say how long we will wait or tolerate waiting. However, we expect that North Korea will respond positively as soon as possible.

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