Top �� What's up around the Prime Minister �� April, 2004

Council on Security and Defense Capabilities Tuesday, April 27, 2004 The first meeting of the Council on Security and Defense Capabilities was held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. In recent years, responses to new threats such as the progressive proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and international terrorism have become major issues for the world, including Japan. With such a backdrop, the Council on Security and Defense Capabilities was established to comprehensively examine the modality of Japan's security and defense capabilities from a broad-ranging perspective in order to more appropriately deal with these issues. At the meeting, Mr. Hiroshi Araki, the Adviser of Tokyo Electric Power Company, was appointed as the head of the Council and discussion started regarding the framework of security policies and others. At the beginning of the meeting, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi gave an address by saying, "In the present international community, peace and safety of Japan cannot be ensured with our efforts alone. It is vital for Japan to proactively strive on our initiative for the peace and stability of the international community. From such a perspective, it is important to construct a new security policy as well as to fundamentally review our defense capabilities as a whole. I ask for your honest opinions on this account."