Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Q&As
 
(Abridged)
 
REPORTER: Prime Minister Abe held telephone talks today with the prime ministers of Canada and Australia, respectively. According to the Government’s announcements, the leaders exchanged views on the United States’ import restrictions for steel and aluminum. What sort of issues did Prime Minister Abe discuss with the two prime ministers exactly?
 
CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Firstly, Prime Minister Abe held a telephone talk with the Hon. Malcolm Turnbull, MP, Prime Minister of Australia, from 9:10 am today for approximately 20 minutes and with the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, from around 11:05 a.m. for approximately 40 minutes. Both telephone talks were held at the request of the designated counterparts. In the respective talks, as you just noted, the Prime Ministers exchanged their views on the circumstances regarding the U.S. Government’s measures to restrict steel and aluminum imports. In addition, Prime Minister Abe confirmed with both leaders that they would continue to maintain close communications over this issue.  Due to the nature of the matter I would like to refrain from elaborating any further.
 
REPORTER: I have a question regarding the visit to North Korea by the special envoys of the Republic of Korea (ROK). The special envoys’ delegation will return to the ROK and provide a briefing to the President as early as this evening. Does that mean a briefing would be provided to the Government of Japan tomorrow or thereafter?
 
CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: I anticipate that the ROK would provide us with a necessary briefing at the earliest possible timing.
 
REPORTER: Is the specific date and time still undecided?
 
CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: It has not been decided yet. We are currently requesting the ROK to provide us with an explanation at the earliest possible timing.
 
REPORTER: I believe Governor Matsui of Osaka Prefecture visited the Prime Minister’s Office and met Prime Minister Abe and you just now. Could you tell us what was discussed?
 
CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Governor Matsui, Mayor Yoshimura, and members of the business community were here. They expressed gratitude for selecting Osaka City as the venue of the G20 summit, which Japan will host in 2019. They also stated firmly that they would undertake thorough preparations. I noted that this summit meeting would be an extremely important international conference of a scale unlike any other held in Japan, and asked for their cooperation in making thorough preparations for the success of the summit.