On August 6th, for about an hour and twenty minutes from 8:00p.m, Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida held a dinner meeting at the Iikura Guest House with Mr. Vuk Jeremić, President of the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, who was visiting Japan. The overview of the dinner meeting is as follows.
- Minister Kishida welcomed the visit of Mr. Jeremić and expressed his gratitude, in particular as a Hiroshima-elected Diet member, for Mr. Jeremić’s attendance and remarks at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony. He also congratulated Mr. Jeremić for his leadership as President of the United Nations General Assembly during the past year. Mr. Jeremić responded by expressing his gratitude for the invitation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. He also stated that attending the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony encouraged him to continue his efforts toward creating a world without nuclear weapons. Mr. Jeremić mentioned in particular that listening to the experiences of the hibakusha left a strong impression on him.
- Minister Kishida discussed the international community’s necessity to steadily implement disarmament and non-proliferation efforts and addressed his concerns regarding North Korea’s nuclear and missile development. He also expressed hopes to cooperate with the United Nations and individual states to denuclearize North Korea. Furthermore, the Minister showed strong concern for the human rights violations in North Korea, including the abduction of Japanese citizens.
- Additionally, Minister Kishida stressed the importance of Security Council reform and requested the United Nations’ support for the cause. The Minister also discussed Japan’s involvement in post-2015 Development Goals as well as human rights, gender and other global issues. He stated that Japan hopes to continue its close cooperation with the United Nations on these fronts as well. Mr. Jeremić expressed gratitude for Japan’s large contributions to the United Nations and stated that Japan’s support is recognized and greatly appreciated by the international community.
(*This is a provisional translation by the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations. The above date denotes the date of issuance of the original press release in Japanese.)
