Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Opening Statement by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato

DEPUTY CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY KATO: I would like to give an overview of the Cabinet meeting. The meeting approved 14 general and other measures, the promulgation of legislation, cabinet orders, and personnel decisions. With regard to statements by ministers, Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga made a statement concerning the preparation and disclosure of the minutes of Cabinet meetings and other meetings. Minister Furuya made a statement concerning the Tokyo Inland Earthquake　Countermeasures Basic Plan and the Government Functions Continuity Plan. Prime Minister Abe made a statement concerning the passage of the FY2014 budget. The Minister of Finance and Minister Amari each made statements concerning the passage of the FY2014 budget. The Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications made a statement concerning the swift implementation of the FY2014 budget by local governments, as well as a statement concerning the results of the labor force survey, the consumer price index, and the results of the household budget survey. The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare made a statement concerning the national ratio of jobs to applicants for February 2014.

In ministerial discussions following the Cabinet meeting, the Minister of the Environment made a statement concerning the climate change campaign, “Fun to Share.”

During today’s Cabinet meeting, Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga made a statement concerning the preparation and disclosure of the minutes of Cabinet meetings and other meetings, which was approved by a Cabinet decision. As the Prime Minister announced at the Diet recently (March 4), we will prepare meeting minutes starting from the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, April 1 and the ministerial discussions following the Cabinet meeting. We will make these minutes available on the website of the Prime Minister’s Office roughly three weeks later. This is the policy that the Cabinet approved. With this decision, we will expeditiously make the minutes of Cabinet meetings available to the public under existing laws. The Government perceives that this will facilitate improvements in the transparency of Cabinet meetings and the disclosure of information, and allow the Government to be further accountable to the people. For inquiries regarding this matter, please contact the Cabinet Affairs Office. 

Prior to the Cabinet meeting, we convened the 34th meeting of the Central Disaster Management Council. During today’s meeting, a report was made regarding the designation of zones pertaining to the Nankai Trough earthquake and an earthquake countermeasures basic plan was decided. A report was also made regarding the designation of zones pertaining to the metropolitan earthquake. In addition, we approved the Outline of Disaster Management and Mitigation Measures for Large-scale Earthquakes and the FY2014 Disaster Management Plan. Furthermore, during the Cabinet meeting that followed the Council meeting, we approved the Tokyo Inland Earthquake Countermeasures Basic Plan and the Government Functions Continuity Plan. The Government will properly prepare for and steadily implement disaster management and mitigation measures against the large-scale disasters anticipated in Japan, including the Nankai Trough earthquake and the Tokyo Inland earthquake, based on the Outline and Plan that were approved at the Council meeting, as well as the plans approved at the Cabinet meeting. For more information, please ask the Cabinet Office (Disaster Management).

Following the Cabinet meeting, a meeting of the Council for Supporting Women to Shine was held. We hope that this Council will serve as a source of momentum for expanding the network of support throughout society as a whole for women who play active roles in a various sectors. I ask that you please forward your questions on this matter to the “Team for Creating a Society in Which Women Shine” of the Cabinet Secretariat.

I have an announcement regarding the visit to Japan by Prime Minister Abbott of Australia and the treatment of this as an Official Visit. It was decided that Prime Minister Tony Abbott of the Commonwealth of Australia would visit Japan from late at night on April 5 to the early morning of April 8. During today’s Cabinet meeting, the Cabinet approved the treatment of his visit as an Official Visit. During his stay in Japan, on April 7, Prime Minister Abbott will be granted an audience with His Majesty the Emperor of Japan. On the same day, Prime Minister Abbott will attend a Japan-Australia summit meeting and a working dinner with Prime Minister Abe. The two leaders are expected to discuss the strengthening of our bilateral relationship in the areas of security, defense, economics, and culture; and also international affairs. Japan and Australia share fundamental values and strategic interests, and Japan attaches importance to Australia as a “strategic partner.” We hope that Prime Minister Abbott’s first visit to Japan will serve as a step towards elevating the already favorable Japan-Australia relationship to a new level.

Q&As

• The Japan-North Korea intergovernmental consultation

REPORTER: During his press conference, Minister in charge of the Abduction Issue Furuya made a statement about the Japan-North Korea intergovernmental consultations that will be held from the 30th of this month. I would like to ask a question about this. He stated that if North Korea commits to forward-looking steps on the abduction issue during these consultations, then naturally it is conceivable that Japan may gradually lift its own sanction measures against North Korea. Does the Prime Minister’s Office share the same view?

DEPUTY CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY KATO: I am aware of the comments Minister Furuya made during his press conference following the Cabinet meeting. However, during his previous press conference on March 18, for example, Minister Furuya stated that if North Korea does not return the abductees to Japan, Japan would neither lift its sanctions nor provide a single yen’s worth of assistance to North Korea. I believe this was what Minister Furuya was saying in his latest comments as well. In this sense, I do not perceive any contradiction between Minister Furuya’s statement and the Government’s policy. With regard to what measures Japan will take vis-à-vis North Korea, I would like to refrain from going into the specifics as this is very much a matter that concerns the ongoing negotiations.

(Abridged)