Press Conferences

Ms. Saiki: First, on the reappointment of the IAEA Director-General. The Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency decided to appoint Director-General Yukiya Amano for a second term as its director-general on March 6 local time. Since assuming his office in December 2009, Director-General Amano has been working actively on North Korea’s and Iran’s nuclear issues. In the wake of the accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, he has provided support to Japan and led international efforts on nuclear safety based upon lessons learned from the accident. One of the salient achievements was the success of the Fukushima Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety, co-organized by the Government of Japan and the IAEA. Furthermore, I would like to note that Director-General Amano has placed great importance on application of nuclear technology in various areas such as cancer treatment. We are very pleased at the decision by the Board of Governors on the reappointment of Director-General Amano. We look forward to the formal approval of his appointment at the general conference of the IAEA to be held in September this year and to his continued excellent leadership.

Ms. Saiki: Second, on Dr. David M. Malone’s assumption of office as the United Nations University rector. The Government of Japan welcomes Dr. David M. Malone, who has begun his term as the new rector of the United Nations University. As you know, the UNU is the only United Nations organ whose headquarters is based in Tokyo. The UNU, as a think-tank in the United Nation’s system, conducts research that contributes to resolving pressing global issues. With the growing expectations of the international community in recent years, research activities of the UNU now encompass issues concerning peace and security such as peace building and peace keeping, development and poverty reduction, as well as environment and sustainability. The Government of Japan highly values, in particular, the postgraduate degree program, which was launched in 2010, and hopes that Dr. Malone will bring further development to the university. At the host country of the United Nations University, Japan intends to deepen relations with this important organization and to extend further contribution to its activities.

Ms. Saiki: Third, on a “GUAM+Japan” Agriculture Workshop. You may not have heard the term “GUAM, G-U-A-M.” GUAM is a regional forum for support and dialogue created in 1997 by Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova, four countries that were part of the former Soviet Union, with the common goal of promoting democracy and economic development within market economies. A “GUAM+Japan,” meeting held back in 2007 decided to hold an annual workshop. The workshop this year will be held from March 10 to 18 focusing on agriculture. Government officials in charge of agriculture from the GUAM member countries as well as staff of the GUAM secretariat are invited to Japan for this workshop. The participants will give presentations about respective agricultural policy in the GUAM countries. They will also visit organizations concerning agriculture policy or industry, plants, food factories, wholesale markets, and agricultural cooperatives in order to exchange views on agricultural policy and food sanitation management. This workshop is expected to contribute to further deepening the close relationship between Japan and the GUAM member countries.

Ms. Saiki: Fourth, on a “Central Asia plus Japan” Dialogue, the Fifth Tokyo Dialogue. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will hold the “Central Asia plus Japan” Dialogue: the Fifth Tokyo Dialogue on March 15 in Tokyo. The Tokyo Dialogue has been held as a part of intellectual dialogue within the framework of the “Central Asia plus Japan” Dialogue and aims to expand the range of intellectual exchange between Japan and Central Asian countries, and to come up with policy proposals which could be utilized for governmental talks. The theme of the Fifth Tokyo Dialogue is “the role of regional cooperation in trade and investment promotion in Central Asia-- lessons learned from ASEAN experiences.” The Fifth Tokyo Dialogue will be attended by experts from Japan and five Central Asian countries, namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. The Dialogue will be open to the public.

Ms. Saiki: Fifth, on a visit to Japan by the President of the Republic of Slovenia. President of the Republic of Slovenia Borut Pahor is paying an official visit to Japan from March 6 to 9. During his stay in Japan, the president will make a State Call on His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan. In fact, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a summit meeting with the president yesterday. The Government of Japan sincerely welcomes the visit of President Pahor, which will further strengthen friendly relations between Japan and the Republic of Slovenia.

With these initial announcements, I would be happy to take your questions.

Q: Basically I want to learn a bit about the response to the recent announcements by North Korea, who said they were going to abrogate the armistice agreement a few days ago actually. What is the initial response from the Japanese Government’s side?

Ms. Saiki: We are aware of the statement made by the North Korean military authorities. I will decline to speculate the intention or the background of the statement by the DPRK; however, I would like to state that the position of the Government of Japan has been very clear that we will continue strongly urging North Korea to implement faithfully and fully its international obligations, including United Nations Security Council resolutions and IAEA Board of Governors resolutions, and so forth, and not to conduct any provocative actions. And the Japanese Government will continue to make close contacts and cooperation with countries concerned, starting with the United States, the ROK, China, and Russia. North Korea will achieve nothing by threats or provocations. We believe that any further threats or provocations would only further isolate North Korea and undermine international efforts to ensure peace and stability in the region.

Q: Obviously, as you said, China is a big player in this whole thing. Are any high-level contacts with the Chinese side planned? Perhaps visit back and forth?

Ms. Saiki: As far as high-level officials’ visits between Japan and the PRC are concerned, no concrete plan is scheduled.

Q: Thank you very much.

Ms. Saiki: Thank you. Any other questions?

Q: Well I understand you also do background briefings now, right?

Ms. Saiki: Yes. Ok, why don’t we close the official press conference here? Thank you for coming.