Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Q&As

• The Bank of Japan's monetary policy
• Japan-China and Japan-ROK military exchanges

REPORTER: The Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided at the Monetary Policy Meeting to refrain from additional monetary easing and to leave the monetary policy unchanged. In turn, the yen appreciated to the mid-79 yen range and the Nikkei Stock Average also fell by a wider margin in the afternoon. From the standpoint of the Government, which seeks BOJ's implementation of appropriate and adequate monetary policy, what is your assessment of the latest BOJ decision?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: I believe today's BOJ decision was based on BOJ's analysis of the economy, price situation, and market trends. In any case, with a view to swiftly overcoming deflation, the Government expects BOJ to continue to support the economy through appropriate and decisive monetary policy management, while maintaining close information exchanges and partnership with the Government.

REPORTER: The visit to Japan of the Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Korea (ROK) has been deferred, and it appears that the conclusion of the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), too, will be deferred. Recently, with the visit to Japan of China's Vice Chairman of the military also being deferred and so on, there have been a series of deferrals with respect to Japan-China and Japan-ROK military exchanges. What is the Government's view of this situation?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: With regard to the visit to Japan of Vice Chairman Guo Boxiong of China, we believe this is very important from the standpoint of promoting high-level Japan-China defense exchanges, and so arrangements will continue to be made regarding the schedule. As for the visit to Japan of Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-Jin of the ROK, the timing had not been decided to start with, and so arrangements are still being made. I understand that both governments will continue to hold negotiations at the working-level toward the conclusion of GSOMIA or the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA).

REPORTER: What is the Japanese Government's analysis of the causes of the continuous series of deferrals?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: In either case, they should not be concluded as deferrals; arrangements are being made. Regarding, the visit of the ROK Minister of National Defense as well, the timing is essentially not decided, and further negotiations are now being conducted at the working-level. Therefore, we are calmly watching the situation.

(Abridged)