Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Q&As

REPORTER: I have a question concerning the Government’s crisis management and response structure. Yesterday there was a period when both the Prime Minister and yourself were away from Tokyo. Given the situation in which North Korea is engaging in repeated provocative actions, could you tell us again about the response structures that the Government has in place?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Firstly, the greatest duty of the Government is to respond appropriately to emergency situations and protect the lives and peaceful livelihoods of the people of Japan. It is therefore only natural for the Government to make every effort to ensure crisis management in response to any situation and at any time. Although the House of Representatives has been dissolved, there is no vacuum in Government when it comes to responding to crises. We are responding to North Korea’s provocations 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and will maintain this response during the election period. Given the current situation, during the election campaign period Defense Minister Onodera and I will in principle remain in Tokyo in order to ensure readiness. We will continue to make every effort to ensure a full crisis management and response structure is in place.

REPORTER: You just noted that in principle you and Defense Minister Onodera will remain in Tokyo, but yesterday you took a trip to give a speech in support of a candidate, although it was probably an exceptional case. In such cases, are there any rules that stipulate that other ministers among the four ministers of the National Security Council (NSC) should remain in Tokyo?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: In principle, our stance is to ensure that at least two ministers I remain in Tokyo. In substantive terms it is the Defense Minister in particular who is overseeing our response in this area. With regard to crisis management, it is a fact that we have a comprehensive response structure in place that is capable of responding to any situation at any given time, with a chain of communication involving the Prime Minister’s Office, the Prime Minister, and the Chief Cabinet Secretary. In the event that both the Prime Minister and the Chief Cabinet Secretary are not in Tokyo, it is stipulated in the Cabinet Act that a Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, who has been designated as the person to respond to crisis situations by the Chief Cabinet Secretary, will engage in such duties on behalf of the Chief Cabinet Secretary. Based on the stipulations of the Cabinet Act, I have given instructions to Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Nogami to respond to such situations. It was the case yesterday that Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Nogami was in Tokyo in a location where he could quickly come to the Prime Minister’s Office in an emergency. As you can appreciate, therefore, there is no change to the comprehensive response structure we have in place.

REPORTER: So can we understand that yesterday when you were not in Tokyo, Defense Minister Onodera and Foreign Minister Kono were in principle in Tokyo?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Yes. Those two ministers were in Tokyo and I had also instructed Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Nogami to act on my behalf before leaving Tokyo.

(Abridged)