Press Conference

Press Conference by the Defense Minister
Time & Date: 10:55-11:01 A.M. July 6, 2010
Place: 1st Floor Lobby of Building A, MOD

1. Announcements

None.

2. Questions and Answers

Question:
I'd like to ask about the situation in the election for the House of Councillors. A survey by certain media has revealed that it is uncertain whether the ruling party will be able to get a majority of seats. How do you take in the situation as a whole? And some key figures at the DPJ having started to say a new framework for a coalition with other Parties, including "Your Party (Minna no To)" would be needed. What do you think about that at this moment?

Minister:
You will never know the election result until the very end. So I believe I should refrain from interfering by making predictions beforehand. We have no choice but to make our utmost efforts to gain a majority of seats.

Question:
Regarding the Futenma relocation issue, the mayor of Ginowan City has indicated that he plans to file a lawsuit against the national government. What impact do you think this lawsuit will have on future work to relocate the base?

Minister:
I have seen the news report on that, however, I do not understand what intentions the mayor has in making such statements. Just as the Chief Cabinet Secretary has said, if we face such a lawsuit we will respond to it in a fair manner. I still do not understand why the mayor will sue the government claiming that the policy is against the constitution. The mayor may have some political purposes but such a lawsuit is completely strange to me.

Question:
Regarding the transfer of the U.S. marines to Guam, (it is reported that) last month Defense Secretary Robert Gates sent a letter requesting that Japan increase its share of the financial burden for transferring the marines to Guam. Do you think that there will be room to consider such an increase in the financial burden for the Japanese side?

Minister:
Secretary Gates and I as well as the bilateral officials at the working level have held several discussions on this issue in the past, but I will refrain from commenting on the details of the discussions between Japan and the United States.

Question:
Again, regarding the transfer of U.S. marines to Guam you have mentioned earlier, some local residents have a concern that the transfer might not be finished by the target year of 2014. Do you share the same concern?

Minister:
We have a given work which is to be completed by the end of this August, in accordance with the bilateral agreement. At this point I don't know what the result will be like. So, I cannot comment about this right now.

Question:
Please tell us what progress within the cabinet has been made on the PKO mission to Sudan.

Minister:
The Ministry of Defense has been studying various different options for contributing to the UN peacekeeping operations. We are not especially focusing on the Sudan issue.

Question:
At the last press conference, you said in this way that this issue has a time limit. The Chief Cabinet Secretary had also said that he wanted to reach a decision on the matter by around last weekend. So, the time

Minister:
I believe that the Chief Cabinet Secretary fully understands the situation.

Question:
How about the time-related aspect?

Minister:
Since our schedule is limited due to the Sudanese national referendum, there is no question that we are facing an extremely tight schedule.

Question:
I hear that you met with the Chief Cabinet Secretary today. Was that for the discussion of this issue?

Minister:
We exchanged views on various issues.

Question:
In short, so far today you have not yet drawn any conclusion on the Sudan issue? Is it correct?

Minister:
The Ministry of Defense has reached a certain level of conclusion, which will serve as a rather significant factor in the government's decision. I have always conveyed the views of the Ministry of Defense to the related cabinet members.

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