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Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the Fifth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) held on the morning of October 8. He said, "We should expand the areas of cooperation under the ASEM framework with the spirit of solidarity and partnership. With a view to strengthening effective multilateralism, we should further advance discussion on the reform of the United Nations (UN) and express our strong will to jointly tackle threats such as terrorism and the issue of non-proliferation." At the summit meeting which took place after the opening ceremony, the leaders discussed political and economic issues and reached a common recognition that the UN must be strengthened to be able to deal with terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. During this meeting, Prime Minister Koizumi said, "While the momentum towards UN reform is now enhanced, I wish for ASEM to engage in its own efforts to advance UN reform. Japan too will strive to facilitate UN reform." In the afternoon, Prime Minister Koizumi held a meeting with Mr. Jacques Chirac, the President of French Republic. President Chirac stated that he fully supports Japan's efforts in becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council. As for Japan's policy against North Korea, he stated, "We understand Japan's policy in trying to achieve a comprehensive resolution to the issues of nuclear development and abduction and thus would like to continue supporting Japan as much as possible." The two leaders also exchanged opinions on the issue of Iraq and regarding candidacy for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project.