Press Conferences

Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida: Tomorrow, on Wednesday, June 11, the Fifth Japan-Australia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Consultations, or Japan-Australia “2+2” Meeting, will be held in Tokyo. With this as an opportunity I am also scheduled to hold talks with Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop. In April the leaders of Japan and Australia shared the view that security and defense cooperation would be elevated to a new level. In light of that, we will undertake robust exchanges of views on regional and international affairs, and discuss strengthening practical security and defense cooperation as well. I hope to further strengthen the cooperative relationship between Japan and Australia.

Arita, Nippon TV: My question concerns the Japan-Australia “2+2” talks. What kind of outcomes are you expecting with regard to cooperation on defense equipment?

Minister Kishida: Earnest discussions on a Japan-Australia agreement for cooperation in the field of defense equipment and technology are currently continuing. I intend to work solidly on deepening the discussion and talks.

Arita, Nippon TV: Yesterday evening you had a dinner meeting with ROK Ambassador Lee Byung-kee at the Ambassador’s residence, and Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Junichi Ihara will visit the U.S. from today. What do you think the important points are in working with the U.S. and the ROK on the situation in North Korea?

Minister Kishida: The importance of trilateral cooperation between Japan, the U.S. and the ROK regarding the North Korea issue was confirmed at yesterday’s dinner meeting with Ambassador Lee Byung-kee, as well as at a dinner meeting I had with U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy the other day. There is a shared recognition that in order to comprehensively resolve outstanding issues such as the abductions, nuclear and missile issues, cooperation among these three countries in particular is important, and I certainly want to utilize various opportunities to steadily deepen trilateral communication.

Watanabe, NHK: I would like to ask about the dinner meeting with Ambassador Lee Byung-kee yesterday evening. Reports state that the meeting arose out of an invitation from the ROK side, but what form did the initial approach by the ROK take?

Minister Kishida: The fact is that we have dined once before, although I do not recall the date exactly. I believe communication and information exchanges like this between Japan and the ROK are extremely important. We were able to dine together for the first time in some time and to exchange views.

Watanabe, NHK: What did Ambassador Lee Byung-kee of the ROK say regarding the explanation of the outcomes that were obtained in the Japan-North Korea government-level consultations in Stockholm?

Minister Kishida: I explained the circumstances of the Japan-North Korea consultations. Ambassador Lee Byung-kee thanked me for the explanation, and we shared the view that certainly in the future also, striving for solid communication will be important. I believe we must endeavor to provide careful explanations going forward as well.

Watanabe, NHK: That being the case, where Japan-ROK relations are concerned, Japan and the ROK also hold various director-general level talks, such as the talks held recently, but did you exchange views about the timing of the next talks, and others?

Minister Kishida: There are frameworks in place between Japan and the ROK, such as director-general level talks and vice-ministerial strategic dialogues. We shared the view that holding these discussions consistently is important, and that we will cooperate together to bring them to high-level political dialogues.