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Council for Reforming the Ministry of Defense
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At this sixth meeting of the Council, Prime Minister Fukuda spoke about the accident involving a collision between a vessel of the Maritime Self-Defense Force and a fishing vessel that occurred in February. He said, "An extremely regrettable accident involving the Aegis system-equipped destroyer occurred. I have reaffirmed my conviction that the events that occurred should truly have been prevented from happening." While touching on his visit to the family of the missing people, Prime Minister Fukuda said in his address that, "The family members expressed their thoughts that the fact that their family is missing is unacceptable. At the same time, however, they expressed their appreciation for the response made by Defense Minister Ishiba and members of the Maritime Self-Defense Force. It was very generous of them to speak of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, which caused the accident, in such a way. They also requested that the structure of the Self-Defense Force be reestablished without fail so that similar incidents will not occur. We have many things that should be truly reflected upon. I expect that the discussions at this Council will be based on such reflection, and I ask for your effort and support in this regard." |