Press Conferences

Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida: Damages from the Ebola virus disease have spread further and I am deeply concerned by the deepening seriousness of the spread of the disease. The Government of Japan is committed to standing up to the Ebola virus disease at all costs with the international community. Based on that perspective, the Government has decided to newly dispatch two medical experts to a WHO mission. These two medical experts are scheduled to depart for the Republic of Sierra Leone on October 20. Going forward, we intend to keep coordinating with the WHO regarding dispatching further specialists. As a result, because four experts are thus far taking part in the WHO mission, with the additional two experts there will be six taking part altogether.

Houga, TBS: Am I correct in assuming that the assistance you spoke of now is within a framework of the aid measures rolled out thus far?

Minister Kishida: At the recent United Nations General Assembly the Government of Japan announced 40 million US dollars of assistance and alongside that also pledged to contribute personnel or candidate drugs and protective clothing, and I consider this dispatch of experts to be one part of that contribution of personnel.

Houga, TBS: It has been announced that while in Milan the Prime Minister is also considering further additional assistance. What kind of additional assistance is likely to be considered and what is the timing of that likely to be?

Minister Kishida: To begin with, of the 40 million US dollars Japan announced at the recent UN General Assembly, we have already decided to implement 22 million US dollars, so firstly what needs to be implemented is the remainder of the aid that has been announced. This will be carried out as quickly as possible and the pace will be accelerated, I believe. However, I view the current state of the Ebola virus disease outbreak as extremely serious. I do not believe the international community can back away, and I think Japan will certainly have to consider making additional contributions. However, that is something to be discussed once the remaining portion of the assistance we are currently pledging has been thoroughly implemented, and so I intend to consider additional measures seriously and concretely from here forward.

Houga, TBS: My question is on Japan-North Korea relations. Yesterday, the Japanese Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea commented that it would be better that visits to North Korea be postponed until the report on the safety of the abduction victims is received. As the Minister, do you think it will be necessary to visit North Korea at the stage of hearing about how the investigation is progressing?

Minister Kishida: First of all, I am aware that we have been receiving a range of opinions from the various relevant parties. I intend to listen closely to the opinions of the many related parties, including the families of the abduction victims. While considering these opinions, I think that the Government of Japan as a whole must make a comprehensive decision on this matter from the perspective of advancing the investigation. But first, I want to listen closely to various opinions.

Houga, TBS: With regards to the timing of the decision, if speaking of the progress of the investigation, then some may argue that the sooner the better. You said previously that you wanted to send a mission there and respond as soon as possible. So around when do you think a decision would be appropriate?

Minister Kishida: First of all, I am taking various opportunities to listen to a variety of opinions. As we are currently at this stage, no decision has been made on when specifically the decision will be made or what will be done at what times. I believe the Government of Japan as a whole should firmly make this decision.

Miyasaka, Nikkei Shimbun: My question concerns the Ebola virus disease. Under the circumstances I think the possibility that an infection to a Japanese national is fully conceivable. What sorts of responses are being considered for a case in which a Japanese is infected?

Minister Kishida: Naturally, Japan too must make a solid contribution to dealing with this Ebola virus disease problem in coordination with the international community, and so I think we have to envisage every situation and make preparations. Nevertheless, because we are currently at the stage of moving forward with implementing the portion of the contributions that Japan has pledged, various preparations are naturally moving ahead but where specific responses are concerned we will have to continue to make flexible and specific considerations while taking the changing circumstances into account. At the present stage I do not believe it is possible to state definitely that we will do a certain thing. We intend to consider responses while recognizing that we will have to robustly make the necessary preparations as we secure a grasp of the situation in the future.

Nakagawa, Yomiuri Shimbun: Can you tell us the current situation regarding the arrangements for the Japan-China summit meeting to be held on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in November?

Minister Kishida: There are some difficult issues between Japan and China, but as I have said in the past, we believe that it is precisely because there are difficult issues that holding dialogues is important, including at a high political level. Based on this belief, we are communicating with China at various levels, and Prime Minister Abe also expects that the outcome of such accumulated effort would lead to the realization of a summit meeting. We would like to continue to accumulate these efforts calmly.