Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: I would like to give an overview of the Cabinet meeting. The meeting approved the general measure "the use of the general contingency reserve of the FY2013 general account" as well as personnel decisions. With regard to statements by ministers, the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications made a statement concerning the results of the labor force survey, consumer price index, and the household budget survey. The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare made a statement concerning the national ratio of jobs to applicants for November 2013. Minister Mori and Minister Tanigaki, Acting on behalf of Minister Furuya, made statements concerning the promotion of traffic accident prevention measures. Prime Minister Abe made statements concerning the Specific Personal Information Protection Commission General Secretariat and acting Ministers while Ministers in charge are away on overseas visits, among other matters.

I would like to announce personnel decisions with regard to the Cabinet Secretariat. As the National Security Secretariat was established at the Cabinet Secretariat today, as is shown in the material distributed to you, Mr. Shotaro Yachi has been appointed as the Secretary General of the National Security Secretariat and as the National Security Advisor to the Cabinet. In addition, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister Yosuke Isozaki has been designated as the special advisor in charge of important policies concerning national security.

I would like to report on the personnel matters regarding the Cabinet Office that were decided at today's Cabinet meeting. Effective January 10, Vice-Minister of the Cabinet Office Takashi Matsumoto will retire from the position and will be replaced by Director General of the Minister's Secretariat of the Cabinet Office Kenji Matsuyama. Mr. Matsuyama will be replaced by Director General for Policy Coordination of the Minister's Secretariat of the Cabinet Office Noriyuki Koda. Also, effective the same day, Mr. Nobuki Sugita, President of the Economic and Social Research Institute of the Cabinet Office, will retire from the position and will be replaced by Mr. Masao Nishikawa, Director General for Economic, Fiscal and Social Structure of the Cabinet Office. Mr. Nishikawa will be replaced by Mr. Shigeki Habuka, Deputy Director General of the Minister's Secretariat of the Cabinet Office.

As I noted a short while ago, the National Security Secretariat was established at the Cabinet Secretariat today. This afternoon, I will join Prime Minister Abe at the ceremony for raising the signboard for the National Security Secretariat. The National Security Secretariat will firmly support the exercising of leadership by the Prime Minister and myself, by breaking down the vertically segmented structure of the government offices. This organization will plan and design national security policies, as well as carry out the overall coordination. The Secretariat will also support the administrative aspects of the operations of the National Security Council (NSC). With today's decisions, both in name and in reality, all of the members who will be making decisions under the leadership of NSC have now been identified.

By establishing the National Security Secretariat, we expect that Mr. Yachi, the Secretary General of the National Security Secretariat, and the relevant staff members under him will pursue their duties so that Japan can carry out strategic security policies from the perspective of our mid- to long-term national interests amidst a security environment that is further increasing in severity, and take responses flexibly under an all-Japan arrangement in partnership with the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for Crisis Management in emergency situations.

Q&As

• The issues related to the National Security Council
• The issues related to the diplomacy of China
• The issues related to the recent visit to Yasukuni Shrine by Prime Minister Abe

REPORTER: I have a question regarding the NSC. First, on the subject of personnel, you stated that Mr. Yachi would be the Secretary General of the National Security Secretariat. What was your view of Mr. Yachi's character and ability which led to making this appointment?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Firstly, Mr. Yachi was appointed as the Special Advisor to the Cabinet in December 2012, and has provided opinions in response to the Prime Minister's consultations regarding diplomacy. We appointed Mr. Yachi as the Secretary General of the National Security Secretariat, which was newly established at the Cabinet Secretariat, and to have Mr. Yachi, as National Security Advisor to the Cabinet, provide information and carry out administrative tasks from a broad perspective regarding national security.

REPORTER: Chief Cabinet Secretary, what is your current assessment of Mr. Yachi's career background, views, and ability in particular?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Mr. Yachi has experience as Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs. Indeed, the Secretary General of the National Security Secretariat is precisely the person who will break down the vertical segmentation of the ministries and agencies, consolidate information on security, and implement the planning, designing, and coordinating. Furthermore, in light of this, this position requires the ability to hold telephone meetings with regard to the studies of relevant countries and other parties, among other matters. In this sense, Mr. Yachi was appointed as he is most qualified for this position.

REPORTER: Mr. Yachi will be the Secretary General of the National Security Secretariat. In addition to this position, I believe the position of special advisor to the Prime Minister will also be newly established. What is the difference between these two roles? I get the impression that there are two chiefs. Also, which of the two will be the counterpart to, for example, the heads of NSCs in other countries? What happens to the role of the person who will not be the counterpart?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Today, we also designated Special Advisor to the Prime Minister Isozaki as the special advisor who will be in charge of important policies concerning national security. The special advisor to the Prime Minister will take responses precisely based on the orders received from the Prime Minister. In this sense, the special advisor will, for example, coordinate political affairs and other matters and carry out activities on special assignment under the instruction of the Prime Minister. Mr. Yachi, as the Secretary General for security will handle matters including the Secretariat as a whole directly. Mr. Yachi will also be the primary person to work with his overseas counterparts. As far as Special Advisor Isozaki is concerned, I believe he will get involved when the Prime Minister issues special assignments.

REPORTER: Is Mr. Yachi the counterpart to, for example, the special advisor in charge in the United States?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Yes, he is.

REPORTER: When the Prime Minister stated during his press conference last year that Mr. Yachi will be designated, the Prime Minister said that he would have Mr. Yachi fly to various countries after assuming office. Are there any plans for him to visit the United States?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: The Secretary General must naturally work closely with other countries, including the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan's allies. Therefore, I believe these matters are now being arranged.

REPORTER: The Secretariat of the NSC has recently been launched. I gather that the Secretariat's existence is very important for the NSC in particular. What changes will this bring vis-?-vis the policy decision-making mechanism that Japan has had to date?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: For example, I would like you to imagine the terrorist incident that took place in Algeria. At the time, this National Security Secretariat did not yet exist. In this sense, in a vertically segmented society, various information was being consolidated and dealt with under my leadership, including information obtained through diplomatic channels, information obtained from defense authorities, as well as the information of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, JGC Corporation, and the police. Consistently, on a daily basis, the National Security Secretariat comprised of more than 60 people will itself consolidate this information, and carry out all the planning, designing, and coordinating based on this information. I believe we now have in place a structure that enables us to fully respond to such a variety of crises at all times. At the same time, as I mentioned moments ago, the National Security Secretariat, as the entity responsible for security, can work with other countries consistently on behalf of Japan. Therefore, I consider that this organization will bring about the security and reassurance of the people of Japan.

REPORTER: On the other hand, when such new organizations are created, I think a key question that arises is whether the organization will truly function properly. What measures do you believe will be necessary to ensure that the Secretariat of the NSC to function properly without merely becoming a superficial organization?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: As I stated moments ago, ministries and agencies will be obligated to provide the various information they possess to the National Security Secretariat. This information will be consolidated and aggregated by a single entity, and therefore, we will be able to implement a variety of policies regarding those matters.

REPORTER: Regarding the organizational makeup of the NSC, I understand that it will be comprised of around 60 people. What is the exact number of people? The figure as of today will do.

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: The National Security Secretariat will start with the Secretary General, and below him, two Deputy Secretary Generals and three Councillors of the Cabinet Secretariat, comprised of a total of 67 people. Within the Secretariat, six sections have been established, including sections which will be engaged in the planning, designing, and overall coordination tailored to the region or to various security policy themes.

REPORTER: Concerning the breakdown of the six sections, will there be a section in charge of, for example, China or North Korea? What is the breakdown of the six sections?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: The breakdown is as follows. There is a section that will carry out the overall coordination within the Secretariat. Policy section 1 will be in charge of countries such as the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and India, as well as organizations such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Section 2 will be in charge of Northeast Asia and Russia, and section 3 will be in charge of regions such as the Middle East and Africa. The strategy planning section will be in charge of the National Security Strategy, National Defense Program Guidelines, among other matters. At the same time, the information section will be in charge of maintaining contact and coordinating with the intelligence community. In this sense, we  hope to have a structure that will allow us to carry out tasks in a flexible manner.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: I would like to ask one more question to confirm, so to speak, the mechanisms of the Secretariat. I understand that the Secretariat will have its office in a building located behind the Prime Minister's Office that is privately owned. Are there no concerns with regard to its security or wiretapping prevention measures?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: It is critically important to gather information regarding these aspects. We will take measures while giving more than enough considerations to these matters.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: I have a question regarding China's diplomacy. In connection with the Prime Minister's visit to Yasukuni Shrine, China is trying to organize diplomatically, how shall I say, a sort of anti-Japan coalition in partnership with other countries, such as Russia and Vietnam. How does Japan intend to deal with this?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: I would like to first say that there have been no changes whatsoever to the Abe administration's understanding of history or to its foreign policy stance. Since the end of World War II, Japan has consistently advocated freedom, democracy, and the rule of law, and  has actually contributed to peace and prosperity in Asia. We believe this is recognized unanimously also by the international community. In this sense, we will remain on the path that post-war Japan has taken as a peaceful nation.

REPORTER: If I may ask a related question. The Chinese Foreign Minister has actually held telephone talks with the Russian Foreign Minister, among other officials, and has been carrying out other activities. How will Japan communicate its perception of the visits to Yasukuni Shrine internationally to those outside Japan?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: As the Prime Minister also stated during his press conference following the visit, Japan will offer explanations humbly, respectfully and sincerely, and seek to obtain understanding. That is our basic view.

REPORTER: In connection with the Prime Minister's visit to Yasukuni Shrine, President Park Geun-hye of the ROK also stated yesterday that she did not say she would not hold summit meetings with the Japanese Prime Minister. However, the President has criticized the Abe administration for its words and actions which seem to deny the Murayama and Kono Statements for the first time at a formal occasion. Furthermore, in actuality, director general-level security meetings have also been suspended, and the ROK has been strengthening its opposition. Yesterday, the Prime Minister too stated during his New Year's press conference that there are still no prospects for a summit meeting. Frankly speaking, the situation seems to have reached a deadlock. Will the situation be left as is, or does the Government have any new measures in mind?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Firstly, while there are difficult issues between Japan and the ROK, the ROK is Japan's most vital neighbor. In addition, as Prime Minister Abe has noted repeatedly, Japan's door is always open. In order to build cooperative relations with the ROK, Japan will continue to make efforts from a broad perspective. With regard to the understanding of history, the Abe Cabinet inherits the positions taken by past Cabinets in their entirety, as has been explained again and again in our responses provided at the Diet.

(Abridged)