Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Q&As

• The establishment of a monument to "comfort women" in Nassau Country, New York, the U.S.
• Power supply and demand policies for upcoming summer months

(Abridged)

REPORTER: Recently a monument to "comfort women" has been erected in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. This is the second such monument to be erected in the United States, following the one in Palisades Park, and this one is located in proximity to other memorials to U.S. servicemen and women who died in the war. It is highly critical of Japan and there are apparently plans to build about 20 more such memorials. How will the Government of Japan respond to this matter?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: I have seen press reports and heard information from other sources about this matter. It would appear that a monument commemorating "comfort women" has been erected in Nassau County, New York, by a group of Korean-Americans, Nassau County and the city of Gwangju in Korea, and an unveiling ceremony took place on June 20. Based on its consistent position with regard to the issue of "comfort women", the Government will lodge a request with local authorities if necessary, but first will continue to look into and pay close attention to the situation.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: According to some press reports, the Government has decided on a policy of implementing planned power outages, depending on the situation, in the service areas of power companies that will face severe power supply and demand issues during the summer months. What are the facts behind these reports?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: This evening a joint meeting of the Electricity Supply-Demand Review Meeting and the Energy and Environment Council is planned to be held, which Prime Minister Noda will also attend. It is planned that the joint meeting will discuss the following three issues: 1) Revised policy concerning energy conservation targets for the summer, 2) Future measures to respond to power supply and demand during the summer, and 3) Concept for planned power outages as a safety net. In that sense, given the fact that preparations are underway in the Kansai region to restart operations at Oi Nuclear Power Station, the meeting today will discuss revised policies and make a decision. The press reports on this matter are a little ahead of themselves.