Press Conference 6 June 2003

1. Statement by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi on the present situations in Myanmar
2. Message from Foreign Minister Kawaguchi to Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Sergeyevich Ivanov of the Russian Federation on the terrorist attack in North Ossetia
3. Upcoming meeting of the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) in Honolulu
4. Question concerning upcoming TCOG meeting
5. Questions concerning possible donors' conference on reconstruction of Iraq
6. Question concerning situation in Iraq
7. Question concerning upcoming Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka
8. Question concerning trade negotiations

1. Statement by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi on the present situations in Myanmar

   Press Secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima: Good afternoon and thank you very much for coming to this briefing. I have several announcements to make today.

   The first announcement is that Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi issued a statement last night regarding the situation in Myanmar. In her statement she expressed deep regret that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) have been put into custody and have not yet been released.

   Japan strongly calls on the Government of Myanmar for rectifying the current situation, including the immediate release of those put into custody and also an early reassurance of the freedom of political activities by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of NLD, and for disclosing relevant information to the international community.

   Also in this statement, Foreign Minister Kawaguchi expressed Japan's full support on the initiatives by the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his Special Envoy, Ambassador Tan Sri Razali Ismail, to resolve this issue. She stated that Japan expects that the Myanmar Government utilize the visit to Myanmar by Special Envoy, Amb. Razali, as an important opportunity to take prompt steps toward a solution of the situations and to initiate the Myanmar Government's genuine efforts toward national reconciliation.

   Related Information (Statement by Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi, Minister for Foreign Affairs, on the Present Situations in Myanmar)
   
2. Message from Foreign Minister Kawaguchi to Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Sergeyevich Ivanov of the Russian Federation on the terrorist attack in North Ossetia

   Mr. Takashima: The second announcement is about the message sent from Foreign Minister Kawaguchi to Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Sergeyevich Ivanov of the Russian Federation on the terrorist attack in North Ossetia.

   Foreign Minister Kawaguchi sent a message yesterday to Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov expressing condolences to the families of the victims of a suicide bombing attack in North Ossetia. She conveyed her deep regret on this terrorist attack saying that this kind of terrorism must be stopped whatever the reason may be. Further, she expressed her strong will to continue the fight against terrorism and the necessity for international cooperation to continue this fight.

   Related Information (Japan-Russia Relations)
   
3. Upcoming meeting of the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) in Honolulu

   Mr. Takashima: The third announcement is about the meeting of the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) on North Korean issues among Japan, the United States and the Republic of Korea.

   A TCOG meeting will be held on 12 to 13 June in Honolulu, Hawaii. For this meeting, the Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Mitoji Yabunaka, will attend representing Japan.

   Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations)
   
4. Question concerning upcoming TCOG meeting

   Q: Just in regard to the North Korea talks, that will be Mr. Yabunaka and James Kelly from the US?

   Mr. Takashima: Yes, from the United States Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly will attend and from the Republic of Korea, Mr. Lee Soo-hyuck who is the Deputy Director for Foreign Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea will be present.

   Q: There has been the Group of Eight (G8) Evian Summit when President George W. Bush met with the Chinese President as a side meeting. Reports say that President Hu told President Bush that North Korea was willing to have multilateral talks with Japan and the Republic of Korea, and the People's Republic of China and the United States of America - five-way talks - in return for some vague reassurance about bilateral matters with the US. Kyodo reported that there may be five-way talks this month. I was wondering when you have the trilateral talks, will there be a proposal for that kind of talks going ahead among the five countries?

   Mr. Takashima: I have no information on that and there is no plan as far as Japan is concerned on such a meeting being scheduled. However, the issue of Japanese participation in the multilateral dialogue with North Korea has been raised by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi during his talk with Chinese President Hu Jintao in St. Petersburg and also during Prime Minister Koizumi's talks with President Bush in Texas. Certainly, Japan wishes to participate in those dialogues and it is well known among other leaders concerned.

   Q: Did the Chinese President tell Prime Minister Koizumi that North Korea was willing to drop its demand for direct talks with the US?

   Mr. Takashima: I have no information on that. As I have said however, the Chinese leader is fully aware of the Japanese wish to participate and President Hu expressed his understanding.

   Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations)
   
5. Questions concerning possible donors' conference on reconstruction of Iraq

   Q: Let me ask about Iraq. There have been reports of a donors' conference at the United Nations on 20 June. As far as I understand that will be an initial conference, not a full-blown conference. Is there any possibility that a major donors' conference following the UN one will be held at some later date? And, might it be hosted by Japan?

   Mr. Takashima: The forthcoming conference in New York is supposed to be a sort of preparatory talks on the issue of reconstruction assistance to Iraq. Therefore, my understanding is that there will be a full conference following that preparatory meeting. However, nothing has been decided yet and Japan has no idea whether it will be asked to organize this kind of meeting.

   Q: Does Japan want to have a conference?

   Mr. Takashima: We would like to see that sort of conference being held, but not necessarily under the chairmanship of Japan.

   Related Information (The Issue of Iraq)
   
6. Question concerning situation in Iraq

   Q: In Iraq itself, there have been a lot of reports about the lack of security, especially in Baghdad, with robberies and a lot of crime. There has been criticism of the United States for being too slow to deal with the situation and to provide basic services to the community. What is Japan's view of the current situation there?

   Mr. Takashima: My understanding is that the United States is making its utmost effort to ensure the security in the city of Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq. We would like to see that this effort be met with success and that it be able to achieve full security in the country. In addition, in order to make Japanese assistance effective, security is one of the most important elements that need to be secured. For that reason, we are asking the US Government and their armed forces there, as well as those of the United Kingdom, to make further efforts to establish the security there.

   Q: In terms of what Japan's role may be in the reconstruction, it has been a few months now since the fall of Iraq, so it has given some time for Japan and other countries to assess what needs to be done there. So what is Japan's plan?

   Mr. Takashima: Prime Minister Koizumi instructed the Government to make a study of what Japan can and should do in terms of assistance for Iraq. The Government is now making a study on it and the report will be made in due course.

   Q: Is there a time set for this?

   Mr. Takashima: Not yet.

   Related Information (The Issue of Iraq)
   
7. Question concerning upcoming Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka

   Q: Next Monday, Japan is hosting the Sri Lanka Conference on reconstruction. Are the Tamil Tiger representatives going to be present at the conference?

   Mr. Takashima: They have not changed their minds. Therefore, it seems that very unfortunately, there will be no representation from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). However, the conference will be held and will be attended by officials of the Sri Lankan Government, and representatives from the US and other countries will be there as well. We hope that the Tamil Tigers will change their mind and decide to send a representative to this conference.

   Q: What is Japan doing to try to persuade the Tamil Tigers to participate?

   Mr. Takashima: In fact, we have been in touch with them through various channels. Furthermore, the Norwegian Government has been making a separate effort to persuade the leadership of the LTTE to send a delegation to Tokyo. However, those efforts have not borne any fruit yet.

   Q: Do you believe that without the presence of the Tamil Tigers, the conference will not bring any solid results?

   Mr. Takashima: This conference is very important to set the tone and pace for the reconstruction of postwar Sri Lanka. Thus, we hope that the conference will achieve tangible results in making up the plan for international cooperation to assist in the reconstruction in Sri Lanka.

   Related Information (Statement of the Government of Japan on the Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka)
   
8. Question concerning trade negotiations

   Q: One last thing, it was announced in the Nikkei this morning on the front page, from a speech that Prime Minister Koizumi made at the International Conference on the Future of Asia which was hosted by the Nikkei, that he talked about Asia based on a model possibly similar to that of the European Union (EU) or to the idea of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The aim was to slowly move in that direction. Obviously, to achieve this goal would take many years. However, is this a policy goal of the Japanese Government and is it something that is being actively investigated as a possible course for the cause of integration of the Asian community?

   Mr. Takashima: Actually, Japan and Singapore have already established the Japan-Singapore Economic Agreement for a New Age Partnership, which is an economic partnership agreement (EPA), and free trade agreement talks are now under way between Japan and countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as between Japan and the Republic of Korea. In addition, China has already expressed its interest in reaching free trade agreements with ASEAN countries. So there are very visible movements within this region to further explore the possibility of a regional free trade agreement. Exactly when this kind of an arrangement will materialize is another question, but there are certainly movements.

   Q: For the Japanese side, free trade negotiations up to now have excluded agricultural products to a large extent. Is Japan willing to engage in free trade agreement talks that also cover agricultural products?

   Mr. Takashima: Agriculture is a very difficult issue as far as Japanese domestic politics is concerned, and yet this difficulty is well known by the departments and the ministries concerned. They are making utmost efforts to make this obstacle much smaller, and even the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) is making its effort to find ways to resolve this issue.

   Q: Related to that, at the G7/G8 Finance Ministers' Meeting, the leaders of the countries reiterated their commitment to further the Doha round of trade talks. It is already June and the meeting in Cancun will be in September. This would mean that there is very little time for all the countries, including Japan, to come to some kind of agreement. Are you confident that this will be achieved? At present, what is the status of these talks and is there some possibility of some compromise, with maybe the US giving ground to the concerns about agriculture in Japan or vice versa?

   Mr. Takashima: It is quite true that the timetable has not been met, but there are still three more months to go. At the Evian Summit, Prime Minister Koizumi and other leaders of the developed nations made a commitment to make this Doha round successful and for the September Cancun meeting to be held in a manner that will bring about success to the Doha round. Therefore, we will have to wait and see what sort of efforts will be made by all countries in the coming three months and toward the target deadline of 1 January 2005.

   Related Information (Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA))