Press Conferences

Mr. Yasuhisa Kawamura, Foreign Press Secretary: From October 31 to November 1, the 5th Annual Japan-UK Nuclear Dialogue will be held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Masahiro Kawasaki, Deputy Director-General, Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Science Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Professor Robin Grimes, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Chief Scientific Advisor, will co-chair the dialogue, with the participation of officials from the related Japanese and British authorities. The Dialogue will discuss a range of subjects relevant to nuclear policy including nuclear research and development, decommissioning and cleanup, and nuclear safety and regulation.

Foreign Press Secretary Kawamura: Tomorrow on October 27, the Japan-US-ROK Vice-Ministerial Consultation will be held in Tokyo. As North Korea continues to take provocative actions, the vice ministers of the three countries will confirm their close cooperation, take a focus on the response to the North Korean issue.

Foreign Press Secretary Kawamura: Today, on October 26 in the afternoon, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shinsuke Sugiyama exchanged views with Mr. Lim Sung-nam, First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. Bearing in mind the Japan-US-ROK Vice-Ministerial Consultation tomorrow on October 27, the two vice ministers confirmed close collaboration between Japan and ROK in order to step up pressure on North Korea through a new UN Security Council resolution and individual measures taken by each country, and agreed that it is important to exchange views regarding the bilateral relationship and steadily implement the agreement at the end of last year concerning the comfort women issue.

Yamaguchi, AP: Last night (October 25), we heard that James R. Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence of the United States made a statement at a think tank event held in New York to the effect that efforts to denuclearize North Korea are not likely to succeed and that it may be better to change the policy from denuclearization to nuclear force deterrence. Please tell us what the Japanese response to this is.

Foreign Press Secretary Kawamura: I am aware of the statement by Mr. Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence of the United States, as reported by the media, but I would like to refrain from commenting on the basis of media reports. The members of the Six-Party Talks including Japan and the United States, and North Korea confirmed unanimously in the 2005 Joint Statement the goal of verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Furthermore, the series of UN Security Council resolutions also demand that North Korea give up all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs. The Government of Japan intends to continue to strongly urge North Korea to refrain from provocative actions, comply with UN Security Council resolution, and comply with the Six-Party Talks Joint Statements to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula by further stepping up pressure on North Korea in close collaboration with the United States and other related countries.

Yamaguchi, AP: Will there be any discussions at the Japan-US-ROK Consultation regarding this statement, or the policy going forward?

Foreign Press Secretary Kawamura: The Japan-US-ROK Consultation will be held tomorrow, and I would like to refrain from commenting on the content in a prejudging manner. To repeat, we will confirm close cooperation between Japan, the United States, and the ROK, with a focus on the response to the issue of North Korea, which continues to take provocative actions, and have an exchange of views on wide-ranging collaboration between Japan, the United States, and the ROK, that is, specifically collaboration between Japan, the United States, and the ROK toward stepping up pressure on North Korea.

Tanaka, Chugoku Shimbun: The First Committee of the UN General Assembly is currently in session in New York. In this regard, there are media reports that the Government of Japan has decided not to support a draft resolution stipulating the start of negotiations next year on a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons. Could you explain what the fact around this are and your opinion on it? In this regard, various media outlets are reporting that the US Government has delivered a document to other countries requesting them to oppose the draft resolution. Could you explain the facts around this as well, and also tell us whether Japan has received a request to that effect?

Foreign Press Secretary Kawamura: There is a variety of information emerging from media reports. I am aware of these reports, but I would like to refrain from answering how Japan is dealing with the matter or what the specific content of the exchanges with the relevant countries are since the matter concerns exchanges in diplomacy. That said, we share with the United States the common goal of seeking “a world without nuclear weapons.” We will continue to closely communicate with the United States on the basis of this goal that we share. There are draft resolutions submitted by a variety of countries, as reported in the media. With regard to our response to this draft resolution, we plan to decide after closely examining the draft towards the voting that will begin tomorrow on October 27 in New York. In that sense, at this point, Japan’s policy, position, has not been determined at this point.