Press Conference by the Defense Minister of Japan

Press Conference by the Defense Minister
Time & Date: 9:22－9:31 A.M. April 22, 2008
Place: Entrance of the Prime Minister’s Official Residence

1. Announcements

None

2. Questions and Answers

Question:
It is alleged that a 19-year-old member of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) at GSDF Camp, Nerima murdered a taxi driver in Kagoshima Prefecture. There is an undeniable feeling of repeated misconducts and incidents; how have you taken this news, Mr. Minister?

Minister:
We are asking for a report on it now, as we need to grasp the facts of the situation accurately. As you say, I have received a report that a 19-year-old Private First Class has committed this act. It had also been reported that the suspect in this matter had gone missing since late March. We will make further comment once the circumstances regarding this matter have been accurately grasped. For the moment, I will not deny that, from what we have heard, there is a similarity between this incident and that of the alleged murder of a taxi driver by a US sailor in Yokosuka. At any rate, once we have grasped the details, we should express our apology to the bereaved family in a sincere manner. We need also to examine carefully the causes of this incident. I think the Government must do its best to respond to this incident and to take necessary measures. The incident is truly regrettable. However, I cannot give a detailed comment until we get the details of the fact.

Question:
While the reorganization efforts have been going on within the Ministry, it is reported that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will put together one proposal for reorganization at its subcommittee. How do you think the ministry’s reorganizational efforts will progress, including its relation with this proposal of the LDP?

Minister:
I do not know how this proposal will be treated—whether it will come up in the National Defense Division, or in the three divisions concerning national defense, after going through several discussions within the LDP subcommittee. I do not know what the final contents will be either. Nevertheless, I know there are several topics that need to be discussed, and what matters is whether their viewpoint on these topics is similar or different to ours. One point is the integration of “uniformed” and “civilian” personnel; another is the issue of sorting out the relationship between the staff and the front-line personnel. There is also the issue of sorting out the relationship among politicians, the civilian and uniformed personnel. In particular, we need to see carefully where and how Article 12 of the Ministry of Defense Establishment Law will be effective or invalidated. Unless we actually see what happens when we elaborate the law, we could end up with differing interpretations of the act. I myself believe that we should not carry out our discussion too loosely, as there is a good chance that the results could be quite different from what we intended after we make a law. In other countries, reforming the army usually takes several years. In the case of Japan, we need to wrap up the discussion this time within only half a year or so. I think it is important for all these topics to be carefully examined in discussions. Whatever the case, we do not know what the proposal of the LDP will be in the end, so I cannot make any comment on the proposal at this time. At the risk of repeating myself, I would like to stress that when our discussion within the ministry moves from the general to the particular, we should get to the point of seeing what will happen by drafting all the stipulations of the law and applying them to figure out the nature of this issue. Otherwise, we may end up with unintended results. I would therefore like to examine this matter while ensuring consistency with the panel of experts at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Question:
General Tamogami, who is Chief of Staff, the Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) stated at a press conference “Sonna no kankei nee” (“What does that matter?” or “I don’t care about that!”) with regard to the recent verdict of the dispatch of the ASDF to Iraq. Some people are criticizing this. Mr. Minister, what do you think of this matter, including his statement?

Minister:
I had been too busy at my home constituency, so I did not see this. Was this broadcast on live television?

Question:
There may not have been any television cameras at the press conference on that day.

Minister:
I see. I only read about this in print, so I do not know how this was actually said. Sometimes the words spoken at a press conference give quite a different impression from what one gets when reading it in print. Had I seen the actual scene either at the press conference room or on television I would be able to comment on it properly. Regarding how I felt about the facts on the premise that I read it only in print, I do think that from the perspective of the Government it was unnecessary for the judge to refer to the activities of the ASDF in the process of discussion leading to the conclusion for the judgment of the court, as I said in a previous comment. In addition, our basic plan specifies “Baghdad Airport,” but did not say anything as vague as “Baghdad.” Although such judgment was made, the Government’s stance is that the activities of SDF have been carried out in a non-combat zone, and are therefore not in any way unconstitutional. I believe that the General Tamogami has spoken along the same lines as well, but I do need to follow up on his press conference carefully. I myself, as a minister, have been speaking for the Government on this matter, concerning its impact on legal and legislative fronts. So I feel a little uncomfortable when a member of our staff makes statements of a different nuance. But having said that, I understand very well that he, as the Chief of Staff, ASDF, wanted to stress that the SDF’s activities are constitutional, so as to maintain the morale of SDF personnel on the field. Although I have no doubt of General Tamogami’s sentiments, and how he cares about the SDF personnel, I must say that I felt a little uncomfortable about the way that he spoke. Nevertheless, I believe that Mr. Tamogami’s sincere feelings toward the SDF personnel remain absolutely unchanged.