Press Conferences

Mr. Taro Kono, Minister for Foreign Affairs: Throughout yesterday and today, I have held telephone talks with Boris Johnson, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom, Heiko Maas, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, Kang Kyung-wha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea (ROK), and just now with Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan who is serving as acting Secretary of State of the United States.

In the series of telephone talks, regarding the issue of North Korea, based on past experience, I confirmed once again with the international community that the international community must maintain maximum pressure going forward to ensure that North Korea abandons all nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner.

Furthermore, I reached agreement with Foreign Minister Kang and Deputy Secretary of State Sullivan to closely cooperate to elicit concrete actions from North Korea in the lead up to the inter-Korean summit meeting on April 27 and the U.S.-North Korea summit meeting to be held by the end of May. In addition, we agreed that Japan, the U.S. and the ROK would continue to cooperate for resolution of the abductions issue.

When advancing this united response of the international community regarding the North Korea issue, cooperation with the major countries of the United Kingdom, Germany, and France is extremely important, and I confirmed once again with each of the foreign ministers the necessity of a response to the avoidance of sanctions by North Korea, including the handling of “ship to ship transfers,” etc.

Furthermore, in addition to North Korea, I discussed the attack on a former Russian intelligence officer in the United Kingdom and the Nuclear Agreement with Iran with the foreign ministers of each country except the Republic of Korea.

Reporter: Recently there was a summit meeting between China and North Korea. Were you given any information about that by the Republic of Korea’s Ms. Kang Kyung-wha or Mr. Sullivan?

Minister Kono: I have received a quite careful brief from China about the China-North Korea summit meeting, and I analyzed the information exchanges, etc. regarding both the China-North Korea summit meeting and the talks on the inter-Korean preparatory meetings.

Reporter: What did Ms. Kang Kyung-wha say about the inter-Korean summit meeting?

Minister Kono: The situation is that now preparatory meetings are being held for the inter-Korean summit meeting.

Reporter: In relation to the Russian spy incident, were there any calls from the European countries for Japan to expel diplomats as well?

Minister Kono: None of the countries said anything in particular about the response of Japan. Regarding this issue, each country shares concerns regarding the fact that the threshold for the use of chemical weapons has been lowered, so I think there will be discussion concerning these matters with these countries at the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting as well.

Reporter: Please tell us about the timing and aims of holding this series of telephone talks intensively yesterday and today, the issues in common with the counterpart countries, and your aims, that is, why did you talking with those countries?

Minister Kono: Firstly, there have been developments regarding the North Korea issue so it is necessary to have a variety of information exchanges within the international community to maintain pressure as an international community, and furthermore carry out confirmation from these countries to other countries as well. In addition to that, although this was a while ago, as you know I received a telephone call from the foreign minister of Sweden, and held various exchanges of views regarding the visit of the foreign minister of North Korea, so in the context that various foreign countries are having dialogue with North Korea, we shared the joint perception that even if North Korea comes to talk it does not mean that anything will be gained.

Reporter: You said you received a careful brief from China about the China-North Korea summit meeting. A little more specifically, how were you briefed in a concrete manner? Furthermore, did you talk about Takeshima or the comfort women issue with Foreign Minister Kang?

Minister Kono: I have received a brief from China, but I will refrain from commenting on its content or any other related matters. Foreign Minister Kang explained the position of the Republic of Korea regarding the matter of the curriculum guidelines of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and I conveyed the position of Japan in a firm manner.

Reporter: Did you talk about the comfort women issue?

Minister Kono: No.

Reporter: You said you received a brief from China. Of course China has a close relationship with North Korea so I think that perhaps you intend to have high-level dialogue directly with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, etc., and you had a Foreign Ministers’ Meeting with Russia just the other day, but do you think it is necessary to talk to China and Russia again?

Minister Kono: I think I will probably have an opportunity to meet with Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the near future. We are holding exchanges with China at a variety of levels, so I think that is probably what will happen.

Reporter: In today’s Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, you mentioned that North Korea’s intentions regarding denuclearization were not revealed. What kind of exchanges did you have with the Republic of Korea and the United States?

Minister Kono: I have held exchanges with a variety of countries regarding the fact that North Korea’s intentions regarding denuclearization are extremely unclear. There is no mention of the denuclearization of North Korea externally, and activity is continuing at the nuclear facilities, so we must see if the commitment is really only words or will lead to action. All of the countries in the international community share the perception that even if North Korea comes to have dialogue, it does not mean that anything will be gained, so this must be clarified with respect to North Korea.

Reporter: The topic of North Korea’s intentions regarding denuclearization was discussed again today in the Committee on Foreign Affairs. It just wasn’t revealed. What kinds of exchanges did you have with the United States and the Republic of Korea in particular?

Minister Kono: I have held exchanges with a variety of countries regarding the fact that North Korea’s intentions are extremely unclear at the present time. There is no mention of the denuclearization of North Korea externally and it is reported that activity is continuing at the nuclear facilities, so of course we must carefully see if North Korea’s commitment to denuclearization is really only words or will lead to action. All of the international community, all countries shared the perception that even if North Korea comes to have dialogue, it does not mean that anything will be gained, so this must be clarified with respect to North Korea.

Reporter: In your telephone talks with the United States and the Republic of Korea, was there any reaction from your counterparts regarding taking up the abductions issue at the summit meetings?

Minister Kono: I have heard a variety of comments from my counterparts regarding the abductions issue. Nothing has been finalized about the items on the agenda or the approach at each summit meeting, so I will refrain from commenting on their content.

Reporter: Do you mean that it was mentioned by your counterparts?

Minister Kono: I have heard a variety of comments from my counterparts about the abductions issue but I will refrain from commenting on their content.

Reporter: Do you mean that you reached agreement with the foreign ministers of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Korea, as well as the acting secretary of the United States with whom you held the talks you mentioned in your opening remarks, with all of them, regarding the three conditions for denuclearization, namely that it be complete, irreversible, and verifiable?

Minister Kono: That has already been agreed by the international community.