Press Conferences

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Minoru Kiuchi: Third East Asia Low Carbon Growth Partnership Dialogue will be held in Yokohama next week, on October 31.

This is the third time this Dialogue will be held, following on from last year and the year before. At these Dialogues, high-level participants from East Asia Summit (EAS) countries and international organizations will discuss measures for low carbon growth and regional cooperation. The upcoming Dialogue aims to share each country’s knowledge on the themes of “public-private partnership and technology transfer for low carbon growth” and “low carbon growth in cities.”

In order to hold discussions at a more practical level at this time, I understand that it is organized a s a high-level forum with proactive participation from municipalities and the private sector. The chair is under coordination. Naturally Japan will chair the Dialogue, and it is envisaged that the chair will be a high-level Ministry of Foreign Affairs official, but as yet it is undecided.

Additionally, the overview of the Dialogue will be compiled as a Chair’s Summary and adopted as an outcome document. This is scheduled to be reported at the EAS that will be held in Myanmar on November 13.

Furthermore, the reason why the Dialogue will be held in Yokohama is because it will be held in conjunction with the Smart City Week and the Asia Smart City Conference being held by Yokohama City and Nikkei BP. Doing so is expected to make it possible to learn and share practical experiences of municipalities and the private sector together. Furthermore, participants will look around companies’ exhibitions following this Dialogue. Participants from various countries will observe Japanese companies' various environmental and energy -saving technologies, which will help participants deepen their understanding .

Makita, Kyodo Press: My question concerns the international dialogue you mentioned in your opening remarks. Will there be minister-level officials attending from the participating countries? What is the level of the officials likely to be?

State Minister Kiuchi: I expect countries will send state ministers, or director-generals, or in some cases ministers or secretaries from their embassies in Tokyo. In any event, not all of those attending have been confirmed yet, but for example, a mayor from a municipality in Malaysia is coming. Those types of officials will be attending also.

Makita, Kyodo Press: I think the participation by municipalities is one notable feature of the Dialogue, but is this a first for the event, compared to the first and second Dialogues? Also, which Japanese municipalities will be participating?

State Minister Kiuchi: From Japan, because the Dialogue will take place in Yokohama City, the Vice Executive Director of Yokohama City’s Climate Change Policy Headquarters will participate. I am afraid I do not know if municipalities took part in the previous first and second Dialogues. I would like to confirm that later.

Miyasaka, Nikkei Shimbun: My question concerns Japan and North Korea. An official decision has been made and announced regarding dispatching a delegation to North Korea next week. I would like to ask once again, what sort of outcomes are being aimed for with this visit? Also, the reinvestigation will take a year, but will this framework of visiting North Korea be continued?

State Minister Kiuchi: Irrespective of whether or not the visits will continue, as the Chief Cabinet Secretary and others have repeatedly explained, on this visit Japan will receive an explanation about the current state of the investigation from a responsible member of the Special Investigation Committee. The objective is to communicating directly and strongly that Japan considers the abductions issue to be the highest priority issue in particular, as well as to receive an explanation from the other side regarding what the current state of the investigation actually is. Naturally we are not envisaging that this will amount to the first report, so to speak.

In any event, our position is that every effort will continue to be made to repatriate all the victims of abduction to Japan as quickly as possible, while adhering to the principles of dialogue and pressure and of action for action.

Nakagawa, Yomiuri Shimbun: My question is also about Japan and North Korea. The delegation that will visit North Korea from Japan will be led by Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Junichi Ihara, but who will represent the other side? Who will be meeting the delegation?

State Minister Kiuchi: In that regard, we naturally hope it will be a responsible member of the Special Investigation Committee, but at the present point in time the issue of who the delegation will meet is under coordination and it is not at the stage for making comment.

Matsui, Asahi Shimbun: Thus far also, the Government of Japan has several times communicated to North Korea that the abductions issue is the highest priority issue, but on the other hand, the agreement reached in Stockholm in May clearly states that no specific area will be given priority, and all areas will be pursued simultaneously and in parallel. Conceivably, the North Korean side is likely to use that as grounds for arguing that placing priority on one area is difficult. How will Japan respond to that?

State Minister Kiuchi: There are four areas: abductions, missing persons and their spouses, Japanese nationals who were left behind, and the remains of Japanese nationals who were left behind. In any event, however, the goal of this visit is to communicate directly and strongly that we consider the abductions issue to be the highest priority issue, and receive an explanation about the current state of the investigation. I would like to refrain from commenting in any more detail than that.

Matsumoto, Jiji Press: My question concerns Japan-Republic of Korea relations.

ROK Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-se commented in Washington regarding history recognition that the situation is retreating day by day and week by week. He also indicated that where a future Japan-ROK Summit Meeting is concerned, he believes it is meaningless to meet simply to shake hands, and that it will be important for the comfort women issue to be brought up and for Japan to present sincere measures. What are your views on these comments by Minister Yun? He appears to be trying to set conditions of some kind for a Japan-ROK Summit Meeting, but could you explain what your views are regarding how you will respond to that?

State Minister Kiuchi: I am unaware of that statement by Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, concerning the issue of history recognition by Japan. Anyway, since the Republic of Korea is an important country for Japan, I recognize that it would be important to continue dialogues at various levels.

Matsumoto, Jiji Press: What about the future prospects of Japan-ROK summit meeting?

State Minister Kiuchi: I will be repeating myself, but since the Republic of Korea is an important neighboring country for Japan, from a viewpoint of advancing the Japan-ROK relations, concerning the Japan-ROK summit meeting, our stance is that the door for dialogue is always open.

Matsui, Asahi Shimbun: In connection with that question, speaking of the Japan-ROK relations, foreign ministers’ meetings have been held in Myanmar in August and in New York in September consecutively. Does the Government of Japan want to hold a foreign ministers’ meeting again, as well as the summit meeting in the APEC meeting, if possible?

State Minister Kiuchi: I am unaware whether the foreign ministers’ meeting will be held or not. I will repeat it once again that since the Republic of Korea is an important neighbor for Japan, the stance of Japan is that it would be important to continue dialogues by holding meetings at every level, including at the leaders’ level and ministerial level. Concerning the Japan-ROK summit meeting, my understanding is that nothing has been determined at this point of time.

Yamazaki, NHK: I have a question about Japan-China relations. Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Aso and Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli met in Beijing. A series of dialogues have been held between the two countries at a variety of levels. This leads me to the impression that the groundwork is being laid for a bilateral summit meeting on the sidelines of APEC – what the Prime Minister is hoping for. Although I imagine that there is information you can and cannot disclose, but can you please tell us the current status of the negotiations with China? What is your current outlook for the realization of the summit meeting?

State Minister Kiuchi: There are various news reports on the Japan-China summit meeting. As of now, however, nothing has been decided.

Fukuoka, Mainichi Shimbun: My question concerns the ODA Charter. Today, I believe that the Government’s draft ODA Charter was explained to a joint meeting of the Divisions of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). I understand the draft states that the Government will consider assisting foreign militaries if it is for non-military objectives, which are restricted to cases such as disaster assistance and civilian cases, while taking into account the substantive significance of extending this assistance. I consider that the principle of avoiding use of ODA for military purposes will be upheld under this framework, however, what measures will be taken to prevent the diversion of ODA to military purposes?

State Minister Kiuchi: As a matter of fact, as you rightly pointed out, today, the new Charter was discussed at a joint meeting of the Divisions of the LDP. However, as the Government is still in the process of compiling the final draft, I would like to refrain from disclosing the details at this time.

At the end of June, a report from the Government’s advisory panel on the review of the ODA Charter was submitted. The advisory panel recommends that in the case of support for non-military objectives, such as for civilian objectives and disaster assistance, it should not be uniformly ruled out just because the military is involved, and the provision of such assistance should be decided by fully and carefully reviewing its effects, impacts, and others, while taking into account its substantive significance. So the Government is now reviewing the Charter in detail, in light of such recommendations.

For example, in response to the large-scale typhoon that hit the Philippines, the JICA team and the Self-Defense Forces closely cooperated to extend assistance in the country as members of the international disaster relief team. To date, support for militaries and military personnel has not been uniformly ruled out, if the support was for non-military objectives. To the extent it can be deemed not conflicting with the principle of avoiding use of ODA for military purposes, there are cases where the provision of ODA to organizations under militaries and to personnel serving in militaries, such as training, has been permitted in the past.

To give you a specific example, in Senegal there is an obstetric clinic that is under the jurisdiction of the country’s Ministry of Defense. Not only military personnel but also the general public has access to this hospital. With the aim of improving maternal and child health, the Government of Japan extended assistance to renovate this obstetric department of this hospital using collateral funds for Non-Project Grant Aid. In another example, JICA invited Dr. Yudhoyono, former President of Indonesia and then-commander of a division of the armed forces, as an expert to a JICA seminar on a theme entirely unrelated to military affairs, and he took part in the discussions.

In any case, the Government recognizes the importance of the principle of avoiding use of ODA for military purposes and for aggravation of international conflicts. This principle will remain unchanged under the new Charter. ODA will not be used for military purposes.

Matsui, Asahi Shimbun: I would like get back to Japan-North Korea relations. The Government of Japan considers that the dispatching of officials is not for detailed reporting on the investigation by North Korea. However, even if that is the case for the abductions issue, if any progress or the results of the actual investigation of the other themes of the four sub-committees is disclosed, such as Japanese wives or remains of Japanese, will the Government of Japan receive such reports?

State Minister Kiuchi: I would like to refrain from making a prediction about what would happen in such a case. Anyway, I will repeat what I have mentioned, which is that we will strongly request the North Korean side to immediately investigate the issues and report to us promptly and honestly, and at the same time request them to give us explanations on the current condition of their investigation. That is all we will do.

Matsui, Asahi Shimbun: Excuse me, but do you think there would possibly be a case where the Government of Japan will reject their report, though limited to a specific issue, as unacceptable?

State Minister Kiuchi: I would like to refrain from making a prediction about what we would do, including what we would do when an explanation of the result of their investigation is provided.

Matsui, Asahi Shimbun: Excuse me, but I am going to completely change the topic. The problem in Japan of “politics and money” has been attracting considerable attention from the international community following the double resignation of members of the Cabinet. In such situation, today it was revealed that Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yoichi Miyazawa’s political fund management organization claimed expenses at an S&M bar in Hiroshima. Can I ask for your opinion on this incident, from the perspective that the eyes of the world are on Japan?

State Minister Kiuchi: I am aware of the reporting of this incident, but rather I would like to answer as a general rule for any incident that pertains to the so-called issue of “politics and money”. I would like to say that I think that it is necessary for us all to ensure that our affairs are in order so as not to be mistaken by the international community.

Miyasaka, Nikkei Shimbun: My question relates to the Ebola virus disease in Africa. It has been commented that members of the Self Defense Force may be dispatched to the U.S. military command in Germany to serve as liaison officers. Also, the Prime Minister has announced that Japan is considering support policies and additional ones, particularly with the United States that plays a central role, as well as with countries such as the United Kingdom and France, while exchanging information with them. Can I ask what support will ultimately be provided? Mainly, I would like to ask in which fields you think that Japan will contribute.

State Minister Kiuchi: You are referring to the dispatch of personnel to the U.S. military in Stuttgart. But in whatever the case, Japan has been cooperating closely with countries such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France through our respective embassies. Also, Prime Minister announced at the United Nations in New York the provision of additional aid of 40 million U.S. dollars. Of course, there is the option of dispatching personnel, but mainly we are providing support relating to medical treatment, for instance protective clothing, as fast as we can.

Also, based on the current situation, we are receiving a lot of information in various forms from our embassy in Guinea, from our official cables, and from embassies in various other countries, including the neighboring countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia. Based on all this information and while cooperating closely with all the relevant countries, I believe we will continue to provide support in the health field which is Japan’s strong point.

I cannot provide you with further details as I do not have the materials at hand, but if necessary, I am happy to answer questions on this matter at a later time.