Japan and the United Nations
Prime Minister Abe Meets with United Nations Secretary-General Guterres
Photograph of the salute and the guard of honor ceremony
(Photo: Cabinet Public Relations Office)
Photograph of the salute and the guard of honor ceremony (Photo: Cabinet Public Relations Office)
On August 8, commencing at 9:20 a.m. for approximately sixty-five minutes, Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, held a meeting with H. E. Mr. António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who was visiting Japan. The overview of the meeting was as follows. After the meeting, the Prime Minister Abe and Secretary-General Guterres held a joint press occasion.
Photograph of the Prime Minister shaking hands
with the UN Secretary-General
(Photo: Cabinet Public Relations Office)
Photograph of the meeting with the UN Secretary-General
(Photo: Cabinet Public Relations Office)
Photograph of the joint press announcement
(Photo: Cabinet Public Relations Office)
1. Opening remarks
(1) Prime Minister Abe welcomed Secretary-General Guterres on his visit to Japan since last December, and thanked the Secretary-General for his heart warming message and for offering support for the loss and damage caused by the heavy rain in western Japan.
(2) Prime Minister Abe welcomed Secretary-General Guterres as the first Secretary-General of the UN to attend the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony. Prime Minister Abe stated that Japan, the only nation in the world to be bombed with atomic weapons, stood ready to play a bridge building role between nuclear-weapon States and non-nuclear-weapon States in realizing “a world free of nuclear weapons” in cooperation with the United Nations. Secretary-General Guterres shared the Prime Minister’s view, and explained his recent comprehensive disarmament agenda.
2. North Korea
(1) With regard to North Korea, Prime Minister Abe stated his expectation that the agreement between the United States and North Korea including North Korea’s commitment towards complete denuclearization of Korean Peninsula, will be fully and expeditiously implemented.
(2) Prime Minister Abe and Secretary-General Guterres shared the view that the international community needs to firmly maintain the full implementation of UN Security Council resolutions in order to urge North Korea to take concrete actions.
(3) In addition, Prime Minister Abe again sought understanding and cooperation on the immediate resolution of the abductions issue, and Secretary-General Guterres expressed his support to the matter.
3. United Nations reform
(1) With regard to UN reform, Prime Minister Abe stated that he supported Secretary General Guterres' efforts to reform for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the UN, and would continue to closely cooperate with the UN.
(2) Prime Minister Abe further stated that, along with UN reform, the reform of the UN Security Council was a matter of urgency, and expressed his expectation that the Secretary-General would exercise strong leadership on this matter.
4. Global and other issues
(1) Prime Minister Abe and Secretary-General Guterres exchanged views on a wide range of other global issues.
(2) Prime Minister Abe stated that Japan would address various issues in the international community, such as the promotion of SDGs including in the areas of education and health, in cooperation with the UN which was the core of multilateralism.
