Press Conference 21 March 2003

1. Telephone conversation between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President George W. Bush of the United States of America
2. Questions concerning reconstruction assistance by Japan
3. Questions concerning the possibility of military action by Japan
4. Question concerning relations between Japan and other countries
5. Questions concerning medical assistance by Japan
6. Question concerning the human shield
7. Question concerning anti-war rallies
8. Questions regarding North Korea
9. Question concerning aircraft carriers in Japan's vicinity
10. Questions concerning increased security measures
11. Questions concerning expertise provided by Japan
12. Follow-up questions concerning Japan's reconstruction assistance
13. Follow-up questions regarding North Korea

1. Telephone conversation between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President George W. Bush of the United States of America

   Press Secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima: Good afternoon and thank you very much for coming to this special briefing. Today I have one announcement I would like to make which is about the telephone conversation between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President George W. Bush of the United States of America.

   Prime Minister Koizumi received a phone call from President Bush today from 11:30 to 11:40 in which President Bush expressed his appreciation to Prime Minister Koizumi for his strong support.

   President Bush said that he was very impressed with Prime Minister Koizumi's courage and friendship. In return, Prime Minister Koizumi said that the United States is Japan's indispensable ally and he would like Japan to be a trustworthy ally for the United States.

   Prime Minister Koizumi also said that now the war has begun and he strongly hopes that the purpose would be achieved with the fewest casualties. At the same time, Prime Minister Koizumi, after explaining the outline of the measures that Japan will be taking with respect to the Iraqi situation, said to President Bush that the United States and Japan must work to achieve a broad participation of the international society in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Iraq, and that Japan would like to work with the United States to build a new Iraq.

   In return, President Bush said that the military operations are going well so far and President Bush strongly believed that the United States would gain victory while making the casualties of innocent people as few as possible. At the same time, President Bush said that the United States deemed highly the strong package Japan announced and the United States wishes to work with Japan for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Iraq and the United Nations' role was also important.

   At the end of the conversation, both leaders reconfirmed that Japan, the United States and the Republic of Korea would work closely together and also work closely with the People's Republic of China on North Korean issues.

   Related Information (The Issue of Iraq)
   
2. Questions concerning reconstruction assistance by Japan

   Q: How much do you think Japan will put forward for reconstruction and what would the decision process be like?

   Mr. Takashima: The war has just begun and we do not know what sort of damage Iraq will suffer from this military action and what sort of reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts will be necessary in order to rebuild Iraq after the operations. Therefore, at this moment, we do not have any estimate of figures. But we are not studying the needs for post-war Iraq only by ourselves but we are also discussing possible projects with various international agencies as well.

   Q: I wondered if you could compare it to the Gulf War. During the Gulf War, there was criticism of "too little, too late." Are decision-makers mindful of that at this stage? Is that why you are making such an early announcement, even though the war has just begun and you have no possible way of knowing?

   Mr. Takashima: We thought that the money we paid at the time of the Gulf War was not "too little, too late." Talking about the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Iraq, we believe that the situation is different from the Gulf War. This time, since Iraq is a country with abundant petroleum reserves, we do not think that the financial burden that we will share would be as much as the one required at the time of the Gulf War. Also, we are not planning to pay any costs for military action itself.

   Q: Can you recall the costs at the time of the Gulf War that Japan had provided?

   Mr. Takashima: My recollection is US$13 billion.

3. Questions concerning the possibility of military action by Japan

   Q: Why are you not planning to pay the cost for military actions this time around? Why did you do it last time and what is the difference?

   Mr. Takashima: Our understanding is that the United States is not asking us to pay and we have not been requested to pay any costs of military action. Rather, we are expected to contribute to the immediate necessity of humanitarian assistance, help some of the activities of the international organizations, especially for rescuing the refugees, and assist neighboring countries that are financially troubled such as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Palestinian Autonomous Territories, in addition to direct efforts to reconstruct Iraq after the war. Those are the areas in which we are planning to contribute.

   Q: Why pay for the military action during the Gulf War and not this time? Is it because the United Nations has not sanctioned this and would not go down well in Japan?

   Mr. Takashima: That is not the reason but we simply thought that it would not be necessary for us to do that.

   Q: What is the difference between 1991 and now?

   Mr. Takashima: The financial situation of Japan is one reason. The other reason is that the operations are being taken by the United States. At the time of the Gulf War, we were requested by the United States and other participating countries to pay some part of the costs of the broad range of operations by making financial contributions to the funds set up for offsetting the financial burden borne by the participating nations, but this time, so far we are not.

   Q: As for reconstruction, you do not know the total sum but do you have an idea of the percentage you think Japan will be providing? Do you think that because it does not have UN sanctions that other countries will be reluctant for reconstruction and therefore Japan may be expected to pay a larger percentage?

   Mr. Takashima: As far as the reconstruction project on Iraq is concerned, we believe the United Nations will play a very important role to coordinate and organize the international efforts to assist this project. I think we should wait and see what sort of conclusion it would draw from the discussions and consultations with the various parties. At this moment, we have no idea how much or the percentage that we will bear as our contribution.

   Q: Do you think it would be larger than the percentage in the Gulf War or less? How will it be calculated?

   Mr. Takashima: It simply depends on the amount of money that would be required as well as our capability to pay. The Government of Japan is now suffering from a huge budget deficit.

4. Question concerning relations between Japan and other countries

   Q: Does Japan supporting the war this time lead to problems with other allies?

   Mr. Takashima: No, I do not think so because that is the decision of the Government of Japan, headed by Prime Minister Koizumi, and the reason for the support is the weapons of mass destruction, which is a concern of ours as well.

   Yesterday marked the eighth anniversary of the sarin attacks on the Tokyo subway system and it really reminded us of how cruel weapons of mass destruction or poisonous gas can be. Also, we have another possibility of the development of weapons of mass destruction by neighboring countries. At the same time, there were the terrorist attacks in New York and Bali, in which Japanese people were among the casualties.

   Therefore, the war against weapons of mass destruction by the Iraqi regime of President Saddam Hussein is legitimate not only for the international community as a whole but for Japan as well.

5. Questions concerning medical assistance by Japan

   Q: I heard that there are plans to dispatch doctors to the area. Can you confirm this?

   Mr. Takashima: Five doctors are on their way to the Syrian Arab Republic. They will be participating as medical staff in hospitals in the region where refugee rescue operations will be undertaken. They will be followed by additional groups of doctors and nurses later. We will be helping or contributing for these operations and projects by these means, by sending civilians.

   Q: Do you have any idea how many more doctors and nurses you intend to send?

   Mr. Takashima: I do not have exact figures, but probably around 30.

6. Question concerning the human shield

   Q: Were you successful in preventing the human shield?

   Mr. Takashima: Unfortunately we still have 30 Japanese nationals in Iraq. Of them, seven are registered as human shields. We are trying our best to persuade them to leave the nation as soon as possible because we designated Iraq as a country from which Japanese nationals should evacuate immediately.

   Q: Do you still have most of your staff?

   Mr. Takashima: Contact is done via telephone from Japanese diplomats currently staying in Amman.

7. Question concerning anti-war rallies

   Q: There is a big rally going on right in the Shiba Koen area that is headed toward the US Embassy and also toward Ginza. How do you react to such rallies going on the war has begun?

   Mr. Takashima: Yesterday Prime Minister Koizumi had a hearing at the Diet session at which he said he was well aware of these sort of protests and public opinion against military action on Iraq. However, he said that this action was taken as the last resort to resolving the Iraqi question and he would make efforts to let the people understand the meaning of this action and try to get support from his people.

   As a member of the Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also trying its best to let the people understand by disseminating information on what the Iraqi Government and what President Hussein has been doing in the past 12 or 13 years and not complying with all of the international demands to disarm their weapons of mass destruction.

8. Questions regarding North Korea

   Q: On North Korea, what are the implications of this war for the North Korean situation? Are you on alert or have you noticed any differences in reactions from North Korea?

   Mr. Takashima: Actually, we think that the situations in North Korea and Iraq are completely different. Talking about the North Korean situation, the United States Government has made it very clear that they will not use force to resolve North Korean issues. We fully agree with their decision because we believe that the North Korean problem should be resolved peacefully and diplomatically with a calm and careful approach simply because there is a stark difference between North Korea and Iraq when you look at the history of the problem.

   Q: Following the military action in Iraq, do you think there is a greater possibility of having a peaceful resolution in North Korea or a less of a possibility?

   Mr. Takashima: As I have said, as President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi both agreed, through the efforts of the United States, Republic of Korea and Japan, we are trying to persuade North Korea to come back to the negotiating table and to return to their position of being a responsible member of the international community by allowing inspectors back on the site and stop their nuclear development. We do hope that North Korea will have an ear to listen
   
   Q: Do you think this war is destabilizing for the Korean Peninsula? Is it making it more likely to be a site of conflict or less likely?

   Mr. Takashima: You asked me whether or not the North Koreans would take this Iraqi situation as a sign for their own future and we do hope that the North Koreans would understand the importance of the international sentiment against the weapons of mass destruction. There is a strong will by the international community to resolve the question of weapons of mass destruction.

   I do not want to speculate one way or the other, but we would really like to see the North Koreans change their minds and abide by the international agreements they have reached with various bodies, including Japan.

   Q: Have you seen any reaction from North Korea so far or seen an indication that they are heightening military awareness?

   Mr. Takashima: We do not see any sign of the heightening of tensions so far.

   Q: There have been some reports that Japan may send up a spy satellite next week on 28 March. Is that the correct date?

   Mr. Takashima: We have planned to launch an intelligence satellite. This has been planned for a long time. It is a kind of a project to enhance our ability to monitor the happenings on this globe. March 28 is the planned launch date, but it may change due to weather conditions and so forth.

   Q: Would the war in Iraq or the situation in North Korea affect the launch date?

   Mr. Takashima: It has nothing to do with it.

   Q: There have been some speculations that North Korea may respond by launching a missile in this direction.

   Mr. Takashima: If they launch a ballistic missile, it would be a violation of the Pyongyang Declaration because they agreed to freeze missile testing in and after 2003.

   Q: Do you see any indications that they might do that? Do you have any indications about their nuclear power and plutonium processing?

   Mr. Takashima: We do not have any indications of either of these activities.

   Q: Have you been in touch with the US regarding this since the Iraq war?

   Mr. Takashima: We have been consulting and coordinating our policies with the US.

   Q: There was a story in the newspaper yesterday that Tokyo may kill the Pyongyang Declaration. Could you confirm that?

   Mr. Takashima: We do not have any intention to scrap the Pyongyang Declaration. That is a valid and useful agreement between North Korea and Japan as a basis for the future negotiations for the normalization of relations between two countries. We hope that the North Koreans will abide by the spirit of the Declaration and come back to the negotiating table as quickly as possible.

   Q: So the story was false?

   Mr. Takashima: The story is mere speculation.

   Q: If North Korea starts processing plutonium and preparing for nuclear bombs, will Japan scrap the agreement under those circumstances?

   Mr. Takashima: We are not interested in putting a red line on this kind of very important and sensitive questions. Certainly we hope that they will not start reprocessing plutonium and test launching of long-range missiles.

   Q: Has the Iraq war at all affected this region's preparedness to deal with the crisis in North Korea? I have read that the Republic of Korea has raised its alert status.

   Mr. Takashima: We do not think so. There is no heightening, escalation or increase of the alert stages at all. I have no information on the Republic of Korea's decision, but as far as the Government of Japan is concerned, we are under normal status.

   Q: Are remittances to North Korea by North Korean residents of Japan restricted?

   Mr. Takashima: We have not taken any sort of measures to restrict money transactions. At this moment, we have no plans to put sanctions.

   Q: Under what circumstances would you consider sanctions?

   Mr. Takashima: If the situation becomes worse and if North Koreans are clearly making a kind of material breach of the Pyongyang Declaration or other international agreement, then with the international community, we will consider taking the necessary countermeasures. But at this moment, we do not have any plans of doing so.

   Q: So North Korea's kicking out inspectors does not constitute a breach? Where is the cutoff line?

   Mr. Takashima: They are not fully abiding by the spirit of the Pyongyang Declaration, but at this moment, we have no plans. I do not want to draw a red line but they certainly know not to go too far as there would be some reaction from other parties.

   Q: What other possible sanctions would be considered?

   Mr. Takashima: At this moment, I have no idea including remittances.

   Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations)
   Related Information (Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration)
   
9. Question concerning aircraft carriers in Japan's vicinity

   Q: Is the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk not supposed to protect Japan? I heard that they are sailing off.

   Mr. Takashima: Kitty Hawk is the US Navy's aircraft carrier and it is up to the United States. For your information, another aircraft carrier, Carl Vinson, is in the vicinity of Japan.

10. Questions concerning increased security measures

    Q: Have you done anything to boost security around nuclear power plants or US military bases? Can you give us numbers and can you tell us how you are doing this?

    Mr. Takashima: In view of the fact that the Iraqi situation has become tenser because of the military operations, the Government of Japan has decided to increase security around US military bases and other foreign installations as well as the Japanese Government's installations.Security is mostly taken care of by the National Police Agency as well as the Self-Defense Forces. I do not have the details immediately.

    Q: Are there any indications of terrorist threats?

    Mr. Takashima: We do not have any particular threats or warnings of terrorist attacks as far as Japan is concerned. We are fully aware that there are some indications of possible terrorist attacks in various parts of the world. We are giving warnings to Japanese visitors and residents abroad.

11. Questions concerning expertise provided by Japan

    Q: There have been some media reports that say that Japan will offer expertise on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Is that true?

    Mr. Takashima: If it becomes necessary and appropriate, we would consider various types of experts to be dispatched from Japan to assist in the international effort to make Iraq a safer place. They can include minesweeping and demining. For example, among the UN inspection teams, I believe there were at least two or three Japanese specialists who participated in the inspection efforts of the UN in Iraq.

    Q: Could you give us a little more detail on what sort of expertise does have in this area? Japan had chemical and biological weapons during World War II. Does it have any expertise in coping with these weapons in Japanese territory in China that Japan might apply toward Iraq?

    Mr. Takashima: The Japanese specialists are working in China to destroy the chemical weapons that were left by the Japanese Imperial Army but I do not have the details at this moment. I do know that we have specialists in nuclear reactor reprocessing, chemical and biological weapons.

12. Follow-up questions concerning Japan's reconstruction assistance

    Q: Can you go through the list of everything that you have on the table for the Iraq situation and any figures for these operations?

    Mr. Takashima: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made an announcement of immediate measures to be taken vis-à-vis the Iraq situation. It is available on paper form so I will give it to you later.The contribution to international organizations, namely UNHCR, UNICEF and World Food Programme (WFP) is US$5.03 million. For nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that are currently operating in Northern Iraq and Jordan for refugee rescue operations, we will provide US$3.6 million. At this moment, these are the only concrete figures, but they will be increased if necessary.We are also planning to give financial assistance to Jordan and to the Palestinian Autonomous Territories. This issue is now under discussion between Japan and these countries.

    Q: What kind of things would you consider for Jordan and Palestine and why?

    Mr. Takashima: Jordan will suffer economically from military actions because their economy is heavily dependent on Iraq. Since the outbreak of war, Jordan would not be able to get cheap oil from Iraq. They also have to cope with the massive flow of refugees. Therefore, we will assist them.As for the Palestinian Autonomous Territories, it is very important to resolve the Middle East question as a whole and we believe the Palestinian issue should be resolved by helping to reestablish Palestine's self-sufficiency and increase their administrative capability so that Palestinians will have a strong stance for negotiations. In terms of aid, they will include grants.

    Q: Did the negotiations for Jordan and Palestine start before the war with Iraq started?

    Mr. Takashima: Preliminary discussions had been underway before the war.

    Q: When did the preliminary discussions start?

    Mr. Takashima: I think they started about a month ago.

    Q: Did they have similar discussions during the Gulf War?

    Mr. Takashima: I do not have any recollections on the Gulf War situation, but this time, we would like to assist neighboring countries as well, as I have said.

    Q: My impression is that there is a lot more thought going into how to deal with the aftermath of the conflict before the conflict has begun this time than during the Gulf War. I wonder if you think that is correct.

    Mr. Takashima: The Gulf War and the Iraq war are completely different. At the time of the Gulf War, as I recall, it was an operation to expel Iraqi forces from the State of Kuwait. Kuwait was a very rich country and reconstruction could be done by its own effort and financial resources. Therefore, there was not much of a necessity for us to assist Kuwait.

    Q: But Jordan was affected at the time.

    Mr. Takashima: I think we helped Jordan, but I do not have any information at this particular moment on how much we have done. This time, we will be helping Jordan. This is not a sudden thing as we have been helping Jordan and been in very close contact with them. It is a kind of additional Japanese assistance to Jordan.

    Q: Do you think that this conflict in Iraq will make it more difficult to resolve the Palestinian question?

    Mr. Takashima: We do not hope that is the case, but since the roadmap for peace has been presented on the table, this question of peace in the Middle East will be handled in a good manner so that peace can be achieved.We are contributing and helping Palestinians and participating in the international effort to that end.

    Q: Do you think that Japan's assistance support for the US in the war will make Japan's relations with the Arab world or the Muslims around the world much more difficult?

    Mr. Takashima: I do not think so because we have been having very good relations with the Arab world. Indeed, we issued the statement by Ministry for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi indicating that Japan has every intention to promote better relations with Middle Eastern countries.

    Q: You are giving 400 million yen to NGOs. Does the Government of Japan support a part of the Japan Platform? Is it really an NGO?

    Mr. Takashima: Actually, regarding the Japan Platform, I think you had better make a direct inquiry to them. But the Japan Platform is an organization of various NGOs and Keidanren and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    Q: Why are you giving aid via NGOs? Is there precedent for this in Japan?

    Mr. Takashima: Just like any other Government of various countries, NGOs can operate much more efficiently on the field in such cases as Iraq.The last time we have given this kind of aid was in Afghanistan and East Timor. In the early 1990s, there were not too many activities that were done by Japanese NGOs so I do not think Government money has been provided to them. We started assistance to NGO activity in the Rwanda situation.

    Q: Do you think the war will impact Japan's economy? Have you seen any indications so far ? Do you have any concerns in shipping oil?

    Mr. Takashima: Yesterday, the Government established an Emergency Measures Headquarters in which one of the major projects is to prevent any sort of disruption. The relevant Ministries are making every economic effort in this regard.

    So far, nothing has happened in terms of shipping oil.

    Related Information (Measures to be Taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Response to the Military Actions Taken Against Iraq)
    Related Information (Toward peace and stability in the Middle East (Statement by Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi, Minister for Foreign Affairs))
    
13. Follow-up questions regarding North Korea

    Q: Is Japan's support for the US efforts in the war in Iraq at all related to what Japan hopes the US would do should there be a crisis North Korea? My understanding is that the US has not ruled out military action.

    Mr. Takashima: We do not want to have any military action taken against North Korea.President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage have all said that they have no plans to take military action.

    Q: But is Japan's support for the Iraq war at all related to getting US support for the North Korean situation?

    Mr. Takashima: Not necessarily so, but since we are a partner in the alliance with the United States, that was one of the reasons why we supported the American decision. This alliance will work as a deterrent to North Korea.

    Q: Have you been in touch with Seoul since the Iraq war started?

    Mr. Takashima: Not particularly, but we have been in close touch. The newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoon Young-Kwan of the Republic of Korea will be visiting Japan toward the end of this month.

    Q: The US is reconsidering the location of its troops in Seoul. Is Japan being consulted on Japan? What is Japan's position on that as it concerns Japan's security?

    Mr. Takashima: We have been in very close consultation and contact with the US but I do not want disclose any of the details of the contact. As the US and Republic of Korea allies, they have their own consultations and decisions. We fully respect their decisions.Of course, the Korean Peninsula is a matter of concern to us, but the decisions have to be taken by the individual countries and not by us.

    Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations)