Press Briefing
Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations Cho Tai-young
Oct. 22, 2013 14:30 KST


Good afternoon. Let me start today’s briefing.

Today, I have two announcements to make.

First, the 10th ROK-Middle East Cooperation Forum will take place tomorrow, October 23, co-hosted by the Jeju Peace Institute and the Korea-Arab Society of the Republic of Korea as well as the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The ROK Foreign Ministry sponsors this annual event. The event will take place at Hilton Hotel in Seoul and be open in entirety to you journalists. Its detailed program will be announced separately.

At the Forum themed “Meeting Global Challenges through the ROK-Middle East Partnership,” the participants will discuss ways to enhance the bilateral partnership in foreign affairs and economy.

ROK Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will deliver a keynote speech on the ROK’s policy direction toward the Middle East.

This year marking the 10th anniversary of the Forum, the upcoming Forum, for the first time, will include a session for youths of the two sides to learn about their interests in and views on the ROK-Middle East cooperation and have them reflected in future measures.

The ROK youth delegation will consist of members of the College Student Group for Middle East Studies called “El-Naafidha,” while the Middle Eastern delegation will include junior officials from the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The Forum will bring together 250 delegates from various sectors of the UAE, Egypt, Palestine, Morocco and Bahrain, including their governments, businesses, academia and media outlets.

Moving on to the second and last announcement, the 2nd forum on economic cooperation between the ROK and the three northeast provinces of China will take place in Seoul on October 25 with key government officials and entrepreneurs from the two sides in attendance. For your information, the three northeast provinces are Jilin, Heilongjiang and Liaoning provinces, and the first such forum took place in China in September 2012.

The Forum will be co-hosted by the ROK Foreign Ministry, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the governments of the three Chinese provinces. At the Forum, key government officials, including Deputy Governor of Jilin Province Wang Huawen, and entrepreneurs from the three northeast provinces will explore ways to boost mutual investment as well as promote cooperation between the ROK and the provinces in a future-oriented way.

At the opening ceremony of the Forum, the ROK’s First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Kyou-hyun will deliver congratulatory remarks.

The Forum is expected to help boost exchanges and cooperation with China’s provincial governments as well as support Korean companies’ bids to enter the Chinese market.

This is all for my opening statement.


[Q&A]

Q: The three ROK nationals killed in the recent plane crash in Laos have purportedly been identified. What are next steps? Has the return of their bodies home been scheduled?

A: I understand that the schedule is not yet confirmed.

The ROK government has dispatched a forensic team to the accident site, where the experts have purportedly identified the bodies through such methods as the fingerprint identification system. In handling the aftermath of the accident for the Korean victims, the ROK Embassy in Laos and the Foreign Ministry headquarters will continue extending their utmost support to their families.

Q: I understand that the ROK and the Japanese governments are in the process of arranging their first security policy consultation in four years. What is the ROK government’s current position on the need to hold a security policy consultation with the Japanese government? Should it indeed materialize, will it discuss Japan’s right to collective self-defense, which the Abe government is currently pursuing?

A: The ROK-Japan security policy consultation has not taken place in the last three years. Under such circumstance, some people in the two countries in effect are raising the need to resume this consultation.
Anyway, the two sides have not yet agreed on the timing of the meeting. As the original purpose of the consultation is to discuss security situations, the meeting will cover relevant issues.

Q: According to a foreign press report, Japan, at a meeting on security and defense capabilities yesterday, finalized its outline for national security strategy. The outline specifies threats from China and three principles to be revised, including that concerning arms exports.

The ROK government has said that it will keep track of developments related to this issue of Japan’s right to collective self-defense and set its position later on. Please confirm to us whether the ROK government’s stance remains unchanged.

A: More accurately speaking, the ROK government has already been making its current, basic position clear to Japan and other countries concerned.

It still remains unclear as to how developments on the collective self-defense issue will unfold in Japan. Let me make it clear that, under the circumstances, the ROK government will keep track of relevant developments and express its position as necessary.

What I want to stress is that the ROK government will not just keep track of relevant moves in Japan without voicing its position.

Q: Last week, the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan, held its annual Autumn Festival, during which two Cabinet members of Japan paid their respects there. The aforementioned members explained that they did so in their individual capacity. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abe and other key Ministers did not follow suit. What does the ROK government make of this situation?

A: On the heels of the Ministers’ visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, the ROK government voiced its position on that.

You said that the Ministers concerned stressed that they had made their visits in their individual capacity. Let me make it clear that it is meaningless whether they made the visits in their individual capacity or not. The fact still remains that they are Ministers and they have paid their respects at the Shrine. The people and the government of the ROK will not tolerate such moves by Ministers or political leaders of Japan.

To reiterate, the Yasukuni Shrine enshrines those who staged wars of aggression, colonialized its neighboring countries and inflicted enormous pain and damage on the peoples of those countries during its colonial period. In this light, visits of Japanese political leaders to the place make the governments and peoples of the victimized countries doubt the sincerity of remarks by Japanese leaders that they repent for the past wrongdoings.

I just don’t see why the Japanese don’t get this. Some political leaders of Japan argue that they are merely honoring those who sacrificed their lives for their country. I just want to ask why they have to choose to visit the Yasukuni Shrine to do that, knowing so well themselves what the Shrine represents.

I just do not see why such Japanese leaders do not get the point its neighboring countries are making.

Q: The ROK Foreign Ministry has purportedly sent to its overseas missions guidelines on marking Dokdo. To be more specific, I understand that the Ministry has instructed them to refrain from pushing too much in that regard. I would like to know whether this instruction was necessary.

A: I have already elaborated on this to you reporters through various means. I deem it inappropriate to discuss right here matters related to national interests. I will do so again at a later time when deemed necessary.

I will conclude today’s briefing. Thank you.


* unofficial translation