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[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the Liaison Meeting of the Government and Ruling Parties at the Prime Minister's Office.

The Prime Minister said in his opening remarks,

“The day before yesterday, North Korea launched four ballistic missiles almost simultaneously. The missiles flew about 1,000 kilometers and three of them appeared to have landed in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), while the remaining missile appeared to have landed near the EEZ. This is a clear indication of a new level of threat from North Korea. It is a major provocative action, and is totally unacceptable.

Yesterday President Trump and I held a telephone talk, and President Trump clearly stated that the US is with Japan 100%. Minister for Foreign Affairs Kishida and Defense Minister Inada also held telephone discussions with their U.S. and ROK counterparts, and confirmed that we will continue to collaborate closely with them. Taking into consideration the resolution that was recently passed in the Diet, we will continue our resolute response to North Korea that includes responding through the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). North Korea had been hinting it would launch a new type of missile. Japan considers this to be of grave concern, and will continue to be thoroughly prepared by maintaining an elevated vigilance and surveillance structure. 

On Saturday, March 11, six years will have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake. At the time the Liberal Democratic Party was an opposition party, but immediately after the earthquake occurred, we went to the affected areas and provided the maximum amount of support we could. Then, after the change in administration, as a ruling party we have been exerting every effort for reconstruction, fully sympathizing with the disaster victims. With the strong resolution to achieve everything that is needed, we will continue to exert every effort to achieve seamless support for those affected by the disaster, the reconstruction of homes and towns, and the rebuilding of livelihoods such as agriculture, the fisheries industry, and tourism.  

There can be no revitalization of Tohoku without the reconstruction of Fukushima, and there can be no revitalization of Japan without the reconstruction of Tohoku. With that thought in mind, on Sunday, March 12, I will visit Miyako City in Iwate Prefecture, an area affected by the disaster, to participate in a junior high school graduation ceremony, and will also visit the former Tarou Tourist Hotel, a ruin that stands as a testament to the lessons learned from the disaster. I will also visit Ryusendo, the tourism facility in Iwaizumi Town that has recovered from the damage it suffered from a typhoon last summer.

In the Diet, on February 27, the budget for the next fiscal year was passed in the House of Representatives. It has been eighteen years since substantive deliberations on the budget in the House of Councillors have begun during the month of February. I would like to express my gratitude for all your efforts. In order to pass the next fiscal year’s budget and related bills as soon as possible, and transmit these results to the people, we will continue to work to give detailed explanations with a sense of urgency. I ask for the continued cooperation of everyone in the ruling parties.

United States Secretary of State Tillerson plans to visit Japan from March 15 to 17. Taking into consideration the results of the recent Japan-United States Summit Meeting, I intend to hold a frank exchange of views on matters such as how to strengthen the Japan-U.S. Alliance to ensure the peace and security of the region.

Circumstances permitting, from March 19 I plan to visit Germany, France, and Italy, the European members of the G7 which are countries that all share fundamental values together with Japan. We will conduct frank exchanges of views in regard to major issues faced by the international community, and have further close collaboration for global peace and prosperity.

Next week, major companies will release their management responses as part of the spring wage offensive. I hope that there will be positive results in regard to this year’s wage increases. We will continue to thoroughly advance policies in order to further strengthen the flow of the positive economic cycle. I would like to ask for your continued cooperation on this.”