Press Conference

Press Conference by the Defense Minister (09:42-09:46 A.M. October 30, 2009): Press Conference by the Defense Minister
Time & Date: 08:55-08:57 A.M. November 6, 2009
Place: In front of the Cabinet Meeting Room in the House

(This is a provisional translation of an announcement by the Defense Minister and the abstract of the Q&A session at the subsequent press conference for reference purposes only)
The original text is in Japanese.

1. Announcements

None.

2. Questions and Answers

Question:
Concerning the issue of relocating Futenma Air Station, US State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly said that the United States (US) will set “no deadline regarding the Okinawa Base Agreement. ECould you please tell us your thoughts on the timing of the decision?

Minister:
I only have knowledge of this statement through news reports, so I’m not clear on the details. We should not spend too much time, but I think Spokesman Kelly’s statement suggests that Japan and the US are on the way to having a common recognition on this issue to a certain extent, thanks to frequent bilateral talks.

(For the remainder of the press conference, please refer to the Japanese version.)