Press Conferences
Press Conference by Deputy Press Secretary Koichi Mizushima
Thursday, April 17, 2014, 2:00 p.m. Press Conference Room 381, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Deputy Press Secretary Mr. Koichi Mizushima: Good afternoon. I have nothing to take up at the beginning and if you have any questions I would be happy to answer.
Question Concerning Comfort Women (Japan-ROK Director-General Level Talks)
Q: Thank you. I would like to confirm a story about comfort women, which is reported by many Japanese press agencies. One says, “Japan is now requesting South Korea to agree to settle this issue during this year and Japan is not going to pay compensation but is ready to provide humane support towards those women.” And I would like to confirm if this story is true?
Mr. Mizushima: Okay. On the 16th, which is yesterday, there was a meeting between Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, Mr. Ihara, and Mr. Lee Sang-deok, Director-General of Northeast Asian Affairs Bureau of the Korean Foreign Ministry. They had a sincere and candid discussion. They exchanged the respective basic positions on the issue of comfort women during that meeting. At the end of the meeting, they agreed to continue such consultations, and the next consultation will be scheduled to be held sometime in May. We will continue to exchange views on various matters. As for your question, since these consultations will be continued, I am not making any detailed comments in contents at this moment.
Q: There is still not any talk about when this issue will be settled?
Mr. Mizushima: As I said, we will continue such consultations on a director-general level, and the next meeting will be scheduled to be held sometime in May. We will continue to discuss this issue, too.
Question Concerning Linear Trains (President Obama's State Visit to Japan)
Q: And one more, I would also like to confirm this story about the linear train. Because President Obama will come to Japan next week, some press are reporting that Japan will bring its linear train program to the US, can I confirm if it is true or not?
Mr. Mizushima: President Obama of the United States is scheduled to arrive in Japan on 23rd and will be staying in Japan until 25th. Of course we expect the President’s visit to be a successful one, but the agenda to be taken up during the meetings is still being coordinated between the two governments, so I cannot give you any comment on that at this moment.
However, we expect that the two leaders will stress the role of the Japan-US alliance that has been contributing to peace and prosperity of the Asia Pacific region, and we also expect that the two leaders will confirm the strong Japan-US alliance and further cooperation to be built on such strong alliance. Thank you.