Press Conference by the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Q&As

REPORTER:Regarding the fact that the same email used in the cyber attack against the network system of the House of Representatives was also sent to the House of Councillors, can you verify the facts as known by the Government and how will it be dealing with this issue moving forward?

DEPUTY CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SAITO:I, too, saw the news reports about the leakage of email data of the House of Councillors. According to the information of the House of Councillors' Secretariat, seven suspicious emails have been confirmed, which are similar to the emails that were sent to the members of the House of Representatives. Virus infection of the House of Councillors' email server has not been confirmed, and the computers of the House of Councillor members to which the emails were sent are now being confirmed for infection. Regarding whether or not there are any further damages, I would appreciate it if you can confirm with the Secretariat of the House of Councillors. As for the Government, there is an organization called the National Information Security Center (NISC), which is being requested to provide information to the House of Councillors as well as to make itself available for discussions and consultations regarding countermeasures.

(Abridged)

REPORTER:Concerning the possible nuclear fission at Reactor No. 2 of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO)'s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, can you tell us what the Government knows at present and its thoughts on what impact this will have on the roadmap toward bringing the accident under stable control?

DEPUTY CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SAITO:As you may be aware, a joint press conference by the TEPCO and the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) is already in progress. Therefore, I believe news agencies will be able to obtain information about the details from this joint press conference. Regarding Reactor No. 2 of TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station that has also been reported in the media, what we currently understand is that yesterday, analyses of the emitted gas sampled by the gas management system of the containment vessel of Reactor No. 2 of TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station showed possible detection of short-half-life radionuclide, Xenon-133 and 135. However, no significant variation has so far been confirmed of the temperature and the pressure in the reactor and the figures of the monitoring posts, and as a precautionary measure, TEPCO injected 10 tons of boric acid solution. As to what caused the detection of the short-half-life radionuclide, there are a number of possibilities, including the possibility of a nuclear fission reaction occurring and the possibility of erroneous detection. At any event, the Government will continue to collect information and confirm the facts. I would like to refer to the press conference that is going on right now and listen to the explanation of TEPCO and NISA.

(Abridged)

REPORTER:I have a question related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The Office of the United States (U.S.) Trade Representative has said that informal prior consultations of the U.S. Government and Congress are needed to approve Japan's participation in the TPP negotiations and that this will take three months. Accordingly, there are reports speculating that Japan's participation will not be approved in time for the compilation of the rules, which will be created by next summer. Can you verify the facts as to whether or not such prior consultations are necessary? Also, please tell us what will be the response of the Japanese Government moving forward and give us a sense of the timetable.

DEPUTY CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SAITO:I am aware of the news reports. While I am aware of the news reports, I am not aware of the content of the document. In any case, with regard to the TPP Agreement, the Government has been collecting information and holding consultations with the U.S. and relevant countries as needed in accordance with the Basic Policy on Comprehensive Economic Partnership. We, the Japanese Government, for our part, are conducting internal discussions and will be making a decision. On this basis, the diplomatic negotiations will take place. Therefore, I believe the Japanese Government will continue to hold proactive discussions, and when time comes for diplomacy, the Prime Minister or the like will be taking up the matter for diplomatic negotiations. I would like to reiterate that, at any rate, while I am aware of the news reports, I am not aware at all of the contents of the document itself.

(Abridged)