Press Conferences

Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida: Based on the deteriorating situation in Iraq and in order to make absolutely sure that Japanese nationals are protected, on June 24, the Government of Japan established an ad hoc office of the Embassy of Japan at Erbil City in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs liaison office has also been set up within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Taking into account that the Kurdistan region remains stable, a number of personnel at the Embassy of Japan in Iraq will be based at this ad hoc office and will work to protect Japanese nationals, support Japanese companies and so on.

Watanabe, NHK: My question concerns the ad hoc office you just announced. Could you explain what the aim is in establishing another office in Iraq? Does this mean that because security is deteriorating in Baghdad, Japan has decided to evacuate to the office in an emergency?

Minister Kishida: Accompanying the recent deteriorating situation in Iraq, Japanese nationals who are residing or staying in Baghdad and others are temporarily staying in Erbil, where public security is comparatively stable. Under the circumstances, we decided to establish the ad hoc office in Erbil to make doubly sure that these Japanese nationals are provided with information and that Japanese nationals are protected. It is expected that this ad hoc office will supplement the functions of our embassy in Baghdad.

Kamide, Freelance: Although this matter is outside your jurisdiction, I would like to ask how you feel about the heckling problem that occurred in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly recently.

The person responsible admitted it. However, because others were involved, the matter has not been completely resolved, and although Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba and others seemingly called for proper and decent behavior, aside from that no concrete action appears to be being taken.

Naturally, this matter has been widely reported internationally, and in general, the view is that it is inconsistent with the Abe Cabinet’s vow to pursue growth strategies that emphasize women, and so the LDP is expected to take fairly harsh action, but so far no such measures have appeared. Given that it involves a problem facing women, I think the Government also has a part to play, but could you tell me as Minister how you think this problem should be appropriately handled, including in terms of Japan’s relations with foreign countries in particular?

Minister Kishida: To begin with, I do not believe heckling that can be interpreted as sexual harassment, or so-called sexist heckling, is appropriate in any setting.

In particular, as you pointed out, the Abe Cabinet is pursuing a policy of promoting the creation of a society in which all women shine. From the Abe Cabinet’s standpoint also, I think this situation is an extremely regrettable one. Regarding your question about what specific responses should be taken, I feel that essentially, politicians should decide whether to step down by themselves. I am aware that there is debate in the Metropolitan Assembly and the party about how to respond to the matter, and the person in question has admitted that he made inappropriate remarks. I think the Metropolitan Assembly and the party should respond appropriately based on those circumstances.

I would like to refrain from commenting from the standpoint of Minister for Foreign Affairs on what responses should be made specifically.

Ichinose, Kyodo News: There has been a series of inappropriate comments made by Cabinet ministers, including the comments in the Metropolitan Assembly, and there have been suggestions that due to the Abe Administration’s ongoing stable support, it is becoming careless and overconfident. How do you view those suggestions?

Minister Kishida: If that has been suggested then I believe the Government would have to accept it with humility. This year’s ordinary session of the Diet has closed, but the position that Japan is currently in does not warrant optimism by any means. It is facing various challenges, including the economy. The Government must shoulder a huge responsibility and stand up to those various challenges, and I believe the Government must undertake that with a sense of urgency and unity.

Saito, Kyodo News: My question concerns the report that was released recently on the outcome of the study on the Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono.

As you know, yesterday, the Republic of Korea made a demarche to Ambassador Koro Bessho. In response, at a press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said every effort would be made to explain Japan’s position. That is what he said, but how will Japan’s position be explained? The report on the results of the study is over 20 pages long, and it says various things. However, in order to convey Japan’s position succinctly and accurately to the public in the ROK or the ROK side, I expect that to an extent it will also be necessary to provide an explanation that is simple and easy to understand. I would like to ask what your thoughts and perceptions are as Minister, regarding the sort of explanation and the wording that you will use.

Minister Kishida: To begin with, where this study is concerned, the matter was discussed at the Budget Committee, and a study team was set up in response to a request in the Diet, in order to secure an objective understanding of the actual circumstances involved in drafting the Kono Statement. It was with that goal that the study was carried out. The task was to confirm the facts of the drafting process.

To begin with, the Government of Japan is explaining to the ROK side that Japan will not review the Kono Statement in the future, and that this position of upholding the statement will not change. The Government has been explaining this precisely, and believes that it must continue to explain this steadily.

The report in no way undermines the credibility of the Kono Statement, and the report’s goal and intent was to use objective facts to answer doubts about the Kono Statement domestically, I believe. Consequently, I think this study demonstrates that the Kono Statement was the outcome of efforts by the Governments of both countries to build a future-oriented Japan-ROK relationship, based on historical facts. I intend to continue to explain this point carefully to the ROK side.

Saito, Kyodo News: I would like to ask a question about how Japan will tackle with this so-called wartime comfort women issue going forward.

I assume that Japan-ROK Director-General Level Consultation will continue to be held in the future based on an agreement by both countries. In addition to a careful explanation by the Government of Japan of its position in the course of those meetings, do you think there is room for implementing other measures of some sort? I would like to ask what your views are as Minister in regards to this point.

Minister Kishida: Going forward, I hope to continue to hold dialogue via various channels, beginning with Japan-ROK Director-General Level Consultations. I intend to build a future-oriented Japan-ROK relationship by building up dialogue in this way. I believe it will be important to have discussions on various issues in those dialogues, and for both sides to exchange their ideas and positions frankly.

To begin with, with regard to the Government of Japan’s recognition of history and other issues, I think that it will be important to provide an explanation of Japan’s position thus far and also its efforts that it has made up to now, in order to obtain a solid understanding. I intend to build up that understanding step by step through dialogue and discussion.

Nishinaka, Freelance: My questions relates to the previous question. As for the study on the Kono Statement, firstly, it seems the focus of the report was placed to obfuscate coerciveness, or forced mobilization; can I ask your opinion about this?

Also, in July the Human Rights Committee will convene and a review in Japan will be held. Within the context of these activities, even up to the present time, over and over the United Nations’ human rights bodies have reported on requests from the ROK side for the Government of Japan to quickly resolve the problem of the former comfort women. This does not pertain solely to Japan’s bilateral relations with the Government of the ROK, but is also related to a response required of the Government of Japan from countries such as China, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

The Government of Japan’s consistent position on this problem has been that it has already been resolved through the 1965 Japan-ROK treaty. But as these sorts of international organizations and also other voices within the international community are calling for a resolution to this problem, as the Minister for Foreign Affairs, can I ask how you would like to respond to these voices? Also, I would like to hear your thoughts in terms of the relations between this and the current study of the Kono Statement.

Minister Kishida: The work to study the Kono Statement was based on a request from the Diet to clarify the facts about the process by which the Kono Statement was created. So the work was progressed for this purpose and ultimately, it was intended to confirm the facts.

Therefore, our recognition of history has not changed at all, nor have we changed our position. We are not in any way considering reviewing the Kono Statement. Therefore, regarding our explanation to the international community, I would be happy to carefully explain the details of this work to study the Kono Statement to the United States and other countries.

Our position with regards to the 1965 Japan-ROK treaty remains as it has always been. We have not changed our position at all. I think it is important to include this point as we continue to carefully explain our position.

Whatever the situation is, I hope that by furthering the mutual understanding carefully between Japan and the ROK, we can advance a future-orientated relationship between our two countries. I believe it is important that we clearly explain this hope to the international community.

Muramatsu, Asahi Shimbun: Discussions among ruling parties concerning reconstruction of the legal basis for security are currently going on and discussions on collective security based on UN resolutions are also held there.

In terms of collective security, the Government of Japan has showed quite a restrained stance when collective security concerns the issue of “ittaika” with the use of force in such an international environment. As the Minister for Foreign Affairs, do you think Japan should proactively participate in collective security from a perspective of international cooperation?

Minister Kishida: Obviously, I am aware that discussions among the ruling parties are currently ongoing and discussions on the collective security are also held there. Discussions on the legal basis for the security of Japan, including the afore-mentioned issues, have been held there. Since discussions are still continuing among the ruling parties, I don’t think it is appropriate to comment definitively on individual issues at this point in time. I hope that the ruling parties will carefully discuss such important issues, and based on such discussion, the Government will draw a conclusion.