Subject: U.S./Japan Summit

Attributable to: Senior Departments of Defense and State Officials

Friday, April 12, 1996 - 10:30 a.m.

[Also participating: Mr. Kenneth H. Bacon, ASD (PA)]

Mr. Bacon: This briefing is attributable to a Senior Pentagon Official. He, who you know, I believe, but I can't announce because this is being transcribed and sent out to the world, will talk to you about the Secretary's upcoming trip to Japan.

As you know, the Secretary's been working for months to renegotiate various security agreements with Japan and also to remove some of the irritants over the Okinawa issue. The Secretary's trip is precedent to the President's trip later in the week. [The Briefer] will lay it all out and take your questions. We may be joined by a State Department official later in the briefing to add even more perspective.

Defense Department Briefer: Thank you. Good morning.

Let me just take a couple of minutes, if I might, to give you a sense of the movements in Asia in the next several days, just to set some context.

Saturday morning Secretary Perry leaves for Tokyo. We will be arriving in Tokyo on Sunday evening. He will have an opportunity to meet for the first time with his counterpart, Defense Minister Usui over dinner, also with Foreign Minister Akata. He will then proceed to the official office of the Prime Minister. They will have a meeting, and then a short press conference subsequently.

The following day he will be engaged in detailed discussions on all aspects of our security relationship. We will talk about Okinawa. We will talk about a game plan or a road map for our defense relations over the coming year. Later that afternoon he will fly to Cheju Do, the island south of the Republic of Korea, for meetings in the evening with his counterparts of the Defense Ministry and also with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The President will leave late Sunday night, I believe; will arrive in Cheju Do early Tuesday morning, about 5 a.m., and will also have meetings with President Kim and Foreign and Defense officials on Tuesday. Then he will proceed on to Japan for two days of state visits.

Wednesday, from the perspective of the Defense Department, is critical for us. He will give a speech from the deck of the USS INDEPENDENCE. He will touch on important U.S. national security and interests in the Asian Pacific. He will then follow on, as you know, to a trip to Russia.

Secretary Christopher, who will accompany the President throughout the trip, will break off from the President in St. Petersburg for a one and a half day meeting with Chen Chi Chen in the Hague. Also, accompanying Secretary Perry will be Under Secretary Slocombe, who will break from Secretary Perry in Japan and proceed on a trip through Southeast Asia, the purposes of which are to continue our bilateral consultations, to review the situation in the Asian Pacific region, and also to talk about recent developments in both Japan and Korea.

Let me say a few things if I can, please, about Okinawa, which I know is critical as we go forward here.

Last year after the tragic rape in Okinawa, our colleagues at the State Department and the Department of Defense have worked tirelessly to try to do what we can to ease the burden on the people of Okinawa. When Secretary Perry went to Japan in November, he had an opportunity to meet with then-Prime Minister Muryama, and he, working in consultation with our colleagues at the State Department and in Japan, set up what was called the Special Action Committee on Okinawa -- "SACO." For the last five months, we have been working virtually around the clock to come up with a program, a plan which meets several criteria. One critical criteria, of course, is to try to ease some of the burdens on the people of Okinawa, while at the same time keeping and maintaining our ability to meet our defense requirements not only to Japan, but the region as a whole.

As we go forward next week, and you can see by the flurry of diplomatic and defense activity, our expectation is that the Summit in Japan has the promise and the prospect of being the most important security summit or forum between two leaders, between Japan and the United States, in 20 years.

We recognize in the United States that the road to revitalizing the U.S./Japan security relationship runs through Okinawa. We've taken several steps, one of which was announced late last night, in the afternoon Tokyo time. Prime Minister Hashimoto, with Ambassador Mondale and Lieutenant General Myers by his side, announced the intention of the Government of Japan and the Government of the United States to relocate Futenma Air Station during a period of five to seven years. Subsequently, there have been discussions between Ambassador Mondale and the Prime Minister with Governor Ota. He was grateful for the phone call, and I think there are early indications that the reception in Japan as a whole is quite positive.

Sunday afternoon, in the evening in Japan, we will be releasing further details of the relocation plans, as well as other details concerning our next steps on Okinawa and the broader goals and objectives of this revitalization work we've been doing over the last year and a half.

I should say that in addition to the work on Okinawa, we hope to put in place a variety of defense bilateral agreements between Japan and the United States, the details of which will follow in the coming days.

Let me break here, if I can. I will, of course take some questions, but our colleague from the State Department is here. He's also on background, and will just be a Senior State Department Official.

State Department Briefer: Thank you very much.

I don't want to add much to what [the briefer] has said, because I think he said it well.

This is a very important presidential visit to Japan, the visit of Secretary Perry before that will also be very important in trying to deal with some of the issues related to Okinawa. It, of course, is an important defense visit. It is not just a defense visit. I think we want this visit to reflect the alliance, broadly construed. That obviously consists of our defense cooperation under the Mutual Security Treaty. It also consists of cooperation on a broad range of regional and global issues from North Korea to Bosnia where the Japanese will be making a major financial contribution to the Middle East where they've made a major financial contribution to the peace process.

We will, of course, also want to talk about trade. Not so much about specific issues as about our common interest in continuing to deal with trade issues, to deal with the agreements that we have and to ensure that they are implemented. So this is a very important visit.

Throughout this process of reviewing our base structure in Okinawa, in reviewing our security relationship in general, we have had wonderful collaboration between the State Department and the Defense Department. I think that has always existed on Japan, and this is just one more example of our cooperation on these issues.

Thank you.

Defense Department Briefer: If I can, I want to add a personal word about Secretary Perry on this.

As many of you know, as a young man in the Army, Secretary Perry was sent to Okinawa in the immediate period after the conclusion of the Second World War, and visited Okinawa, and spent considerable time there during the height of its devastation. For those, Ken Bacon and others, who have spent time with him, appreciate and understand that this experience as a young person had a profound impact on him. So I can tell you that he has taken a very great interest in this process, particularly in Okinawa, as part of this larger revitalization of the U.S./Japan security relationship, and has taken a personal interest to see that the United States can be an even better neighbor, not only in Okinawa, but on Japan as a whole.

Q: Can I ask you, senior officials have said that the changes in Okinawa will result in only a small number, a relatively small number of U.S. troops being moved elsewhere in Japan. Can you give us some idea, some percentage of the number of troops that this could involve, and the amount of land that this...

Defense Department Briefer: I don't want to get into too much detail because we'll be discussing that next week in Tokyo as we go forward.

Let me just say this. It is a substantial return of land. We will be relocating some critical defense capabilities not only within Japan, but some back to the United States. However, at the same time, we will keep our current level of forces and capabilities at about current levels in Japan, and we will maintain our commitment of 100,000 troops forward deployed.

Q: I'm sorry, I thought that the number of troops was going to remain at, is it 47,000 in Japan? That will not be reduced? Or might that be reduced? The overall number of troops in Japan.

State Department Briefer: I think we anticipate maintaining the current authorized level of troops in Japan at 47,000. That obviously varies from week to week and day to day, but we're going to maintain the current level.

Q: ...moving these troops...

Defense Department Briefer: Japan has indicated that it will make a very generous financial contribution to all the movements associated with the SACO process.

Q: According to the Japanese Government, you are withdrawing (inaudible) to the mainland of the U.S. Does this mean you are using U.S. troops in the Asian region?

State Department Briefer: There are two issues here. One is levels of forces, of people; the other one is types of equipment. The fact is, the types of equipment relates very directly to our capabilities and readiness, and we plan no diminution of our capability and readiness, and we expect to maintain the troop levels roughly the same. I think we're finding some efficiencies in this process and that's always helpful.

Defense Department Briefer: As this process goes, as we move forward, we will be moving some assets around the Asian Pacific region, as my colleague indicated. We will be maintaining our current capabilities and rough force levels in Japan, and we will maintain our 100,000 troops forward deployed as well.

Q: Are any of the assets going to be going to Korea? And what, if anything, will the President say to try and prevent a sort of "brick in the wall" effect in Korea?

Defense Department Briefer: I can't actually touch base on that at this time.

State Department Briefer: I think the essential point here is that we are not in any manner reducing the capabilities or readiness of our forces in Japan, and that's what relates directly to the Korean situation.

Q: I guess my question to the issue, there's agitation in Korea for the reduction of American forces there as well. What's being done on this visit, if anything, to prevent that from getting out of hand.

Defense Department Briefer: Since my senior partner also, we work very closely together on Korea as well, I will say that there really is not agitation in Korea for a reduction in force. There has been intensive dialogue and discussion with our Korean colleagues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Ministry of National Defense about the Status of Forces Agreement, which is a little bit different than the actual levels of forces in Korea.

We have been engaged in an extremely intensive process to try to move forward with our Korean colleagues on changes in the SOFA that will meet some of their needs while protecting the rights of our servicemen stationed abroad.

Q: You said the return of land in Okinawa would be substantial. How would you describe the shift in troops from Okinawa to...

Defense Department Briefer: Again, I would say that the movement of... We will have a noticeable movement of capabilities of platforms between Okinawa and other parts of Japan, and we will also be moving some things as has been indicated, back to CONUS. The return of land is quite substantial.

Q: Is the U.S. also ready to return half of the northern training area in Okinawa?

Defense Department Briefer: We will be, again, we will be discussing the details of the return more substantially on Sunday and Monday in Tokyo, but we are planning to take some major steps in the northern training area as well.

Q: The changes that might be negotiated to the Status of Forces Agreement in Korea, can you address that a little bit? Is it a trend that you see in the stationing of U.S. forces elsewhere as well?

Defense Department Briefer: I want my colleague to answer this as well, but let me just say first of all, that we have tried in all of the countries that we have alliances and treaty commitments to in Asia, to meet the legitimate needs, to have dialogue, discussions, with our counterparts in every country when there is deemed a need. We were very responsive in Japan after the tragic rape after the young girl in Okinawa. We made subtle changes to the procedures of the Status of Forces Agreement. When Secretary Perry visited Korea, he took initial steps, publicly, to bring our SOFA in Korea more in line with our SOFA in Japan, and we have been involved in an extremely intensive dialogue, as I indicated earlier, with our Korean friends and counterparts on that matter.

We think we're going to be successful in that process, and we think we will be able to keep the alliance between the United States and South Korea strong during this very tenuous time.

Q: What are some of the changes to the SOFA that the Koreans have sought?

Defense Department Briefer: Let me give you one example, if I can. This becomes arcane and legal, but in the current Status of Forces Agreement, if a U.S. service person or a dependent commits a crime, the ultimate handover of custody occurs after the entire legal proceedings have been exhausted, and that means also appeals. So in some cases in Korea, that is several years.

The Koreans felt that they wanted a situation that was much closer to the situation in Japan. So when Secretary Perry was in Korea in November, he publicly committed the United States to moving towards that goal. What we have put on the table is a plan whereby we would hand over custody at the time of indictment for most crimes, but we would consider very seriously the handover of custody prior to indictment in certain very heinous crimes such as murder and rape.

This is an extremely forward-looking step. As I said, we've been in discussions and negotiations with our Korean counterparts. This is, in practice, virtually identical to the situation in Japan, and we believe that this is the right approach, and we're hopeful that we can conclude something in the not too distant future.

Do you want to say anything?

State Department Briefer: No, I think you captured that very well.

To broaden your question just a little bit, it seems to me that we find in both Japan and perhaps especially in Korea, very strong support for the maintenance of the capability and readiness of our forces. They wish U.S. forces to remain in the area. At the same time they, of course, would like to reduce the impact of our presence on neighboring communities, and they would like, of course, for us, to the absolute extent possible, comply with local legal procedures and laws.

We, at the same time, have a certain obligation to ensure that these people that we send abroad have some of the kinds of protections that they enjoy in the United States. These are, after all, military personnel who are sent abroad, not people who voluntarily go abroad. So we have been working earlier with Japan, and we're still working with Korea, to try to bring about the best merger of these concepts possible. I think we're very satisfied that we've come up with a process that will allow us to maintain our capabilities and our readiness while reducing somewhat our profile in Japan, and by making some changes in our Status of Forces arrangements that enable us to satisfy local wishes that we comply with their practices.

Defense Department Briefer: I don't want to delay questions, but one broader point.

The recent uncertainty in the Asian Pacific region frankly underscores just how important this process of revitalizing our security ties with Japan is. There is no forward deployment of American forces in Asia without a strong U.S./Japan security alliance. Indeed, as we go forward in the Asian Pacific, you will find that that is the bedrock of peace and stability in the Asian Pacific. It has been during the Cold War, and it will continue to be in the twilight years of this century and into the 21st Century. We hope to use this platform to maintain our presence and to work closely with our Japanese partners to maintain peace and stability.

Q: When you're talking about, the whole aim of this trip is to reaffirm the security relationship with South Korea, and especially with Japan at a time of heightened tensions with China and with North Korea. What do you expect to be the reactions from both of those countries, particularly China, which is continually saying your policy, you call it engagement, but it really is still containment. Isn't this going to trigger a reaction from China of that sort?

State Department Briefer: I think as my colleague may have mentioned, one of the things that will come out of the Japan visit is a joint declaration on our security relationship. This declaration will describe the value of that, our alliance, the United States and Japan, and the role that that alliance plays in our common effort to deal with the various challenges in the region and globally. That declaration in no way talks about an enemy in the region or a single threat in the region as we used to have in the case of the Soviet Union. It voices our common interest in seeing a positive role, a constructive role by China and other major countries in the region. It voices our desire to cooperate, and it sets forth this relationship as a steadying presence at a time when there's still a number of uncertainties in the region, but this is not an alliance that is directed at any country, but rather it's an alliance that is meant to establish a firm basis for dealing with the many uncertainties that still exist in the region.

Defense Department Briefer: If I can add on that, the document, the security declaration which we hope to be issued at the time of President Clinton's visit on Wednesday, is forward looking and it is positive. It has been conceived with the idea of preserving, maintaining and enhancing stability. It's not a threat-based document.

Let me make a few other points, if I can. No two countries in the world share a greater interest in engaging China than the United States and Japan. Both the United States and Japan have greater interest than any country in the world in China playing a responsible, active and positive role in the world and in the Asian Pacific.

Likewise, most of the countries in the Asian Pacific, including China, have a subtle appreciation of the security alliance between the United States and Japan. Prime Minister Hashimoto has stated that the U.S./Japan security alliance enhances Japan's ability to conduct diplomacy in the Asian Pacific, and we believe that the alliance between the United States and Japan enhances our ability to conduct diplomacy in the region as well. So we have taken steps to actively consult and advise our counterparts throughout the Asia Pacific, and indeed my senior colleague, we briefed our colleagues in China a few days ago about what will be occurring in Tokyo. They were relieved in terms of the tone that we described in terms of the security declaration, and we promised that on our return we would continue to keep them apprised of how things have developed.

Q: The Futenma agreement seemed to come up kind of suddenly. I know it was a bone of contention for a long time, particularly dear to the Okinawans, that part of those lands, because it was in an urban area. Can you describe the procedures, and if that initiative to come to that agreement came from the White House?

Defense Department Briefer: Many of you who have followed BRAC issues, movements of military people, infrastructure and facilities, can well appreciate that nothing happens suddenly when you're involving movements of material and extremely sophisticated infrastructure and technologies. As my colleague has indicated, we've been hard at work for months and months. The process has been remarkably productive, remarkably private, and all I can tell you is that to the extent that senior leadership has been involved -- and I will tell you that Prime Minister Hashimoto has played an extremely positive, very forceful and strong role in this. He has been engaged in enhancing the security alliance with the United States as no Prime Minister has been for many years, and for that we are very grateful. Likewise Secretary Perry, as I indicated, has played a very personal role -- not just for several days, but for several weeks and several months. Likewise, Secretary Christopher and Secretary Lake have been apprised of our activities for quite some time, and the President himself has followed these matters.

I was fortunate to be, I don't know how we report on this... I was in the meeting between the Prime Minister and the President in Santa Monica. Security issues played an absolutely predominant role as part of a larger set of issues as has been indicated. Both sides thought hard about what were the appropriate next steps.

So beyond that, I will tell you that we've had significant senior involvement for some time.

Q: Do you have an order of magnitude cost of what it's going to cost for these new closures and realignments, and what percentage will the Japanese government pick up?

Defense Department Briefer: Let me just say that there are very significant costs involved. The Japanese have been extremely generous. There also is a wide appreciation that these steps are not only in American national interests, but their national interest. I think it would be fair to say that the vast majority of the cost will be borne by Japan, but of course there are some set costs involved with our forward deployment.

The better way to think about this is a partnership in which we bring some things to the table and the Japanese do as well. I will tell you that the plan that we were working out has been worked out to the satisfaction, and I would tell you the deep satisfaction of both parties.

Q: Is it in the tens of millions or is it in the "B" -- billion range?

Defense Department Briefer: It's in the "B" range, yes.

Q: You say Futenma will be returned in approximately seven years. What kind of steps can we expect in like a year to year basis or whatever?

Defense Department Briefer: I don't want to get too much in the details here. As I indicated, we will be describing that as we come to Tokyo on Sunday and Monday. I will tell you as Ambassador Mondale indicated in his statement in Tokyo last night, we will be seeing some immediate steps; some things will take some time. There will be some construction. There will be a lot of surveys. There will be tremendous activity in Japan on these issues.

I will also tell you that as we go forward, the Japanese Government has committed to work very closely with our Okinawan hosts about ways to conduct these relocations and to meet their needs.

Q: We always heard the expression that the Futenma Field is vital for U.S. interests. Can you explain as to why the U.S. would be able to make a decision to relocate that?

Defense Department Briefer: I would just point out something. If you look at many of those statements, and in fact the author of most of those statements is standing to the left of me. If you look very carefully, you will see that what the statement was, was that the capabilities provided by this facility are critical to American capabilities and forward presence in Japan. That is a point that we've always tried to underline.

Indeed the arrangements, the plan that we are now working with our Japanese counterparts... And I think it's important to keep in mind here, what we're seeing is a first tranche, is a first indication of what we hope to conclude in November. This is an interim report. Unfortunately, we've had a lot of sleepless nights. We'll have a lot more in the next six months as we confirm the details.

Both sides are very pleased with our abilities to relocate in such a manner that we will be able to maintain our capabilities and our responsibilities while at the same time being good neighbors.

State Department Briefer: I might just add that the reason we are able to relocate and while, at the same time, maintaining our capabilities and functions, the important capabilities and functions that Futenma represents, is that the Japanese Government has stepped forward and agreed to cooperate with us in providing replacement facilities. We will maintain those capabilities and functions.

Defense Department Briefer: I would also... There's an intricate history involved here, but we've been in this process, the discussion about land reversion and relocations in Okinawa for many years. We have never had this kind of collegial atmosphere, this kind of commitment either from the Government of the United States or the Government of Japan. In many ways this is a model for how we need to proceed. Not only in the issues of Okinawa, but in the larger mission and stakes we have in the wider world.

Q: The Port of Naha is another facility that's been under discussion for some time. Is that going to be included in this Wednesday announcement?

And you mentioned that this is a first tranche. Is Wednesday's announcement going to close the book on these Okinawa discussions for the time being? Or we're going to see other adjustments...

Defense Department Briefer: Let me answer the last question first. We have committed to our Japanese interlocutors that the book is open. We will maintain discussions for the remainder of the year. We hope to spend the good portion of our time working out detailed plans for many of the announcements that we'll make on Sunday and Monday, but we will also continue to review a variety of other issues that the Japanese Government presents to us.

On the question of Naha, stay tuned for Monday.

Q: Does the U.S. keep the right to use Futenma Air Base in case of an emergency?

Defense Department Briefer: I'm not going to get into specific contingencies. I will tell you that we will maintain the use of Fatenma Air Base until the other facilities, the other arrangements in the five to seven year time frame have been committed. At that time we will relinquish Fatenma Air Base to the people of Okinawa.

Q: Can you tell me how you can supplement loss of (inaudible)?

Defense Department Briefer: On Monday or Tuesday we will give a very detailed brief of some of the movements in the wider Asian Pacific environment which will explain how we are able to make these adjustments and still maintain our commitments and our force levels.

Q: Most of these moves seem to be, on the balance, U.S. commitments to move and shift around resources. Do you expect to see similar Japanese pledges in the Aksa area on logistical support for U.S. forces in responding to regional emergencies?

Defense Department Briefer: Let me kind of take a second here...

[Pause]

Defense Department Briefer: Sorry. We were up most of the night, and we didn't get a chance to really talk a little too much about this stuff.

Late last night the Government of Japan has informed the United States that we will be able to sign an Aksa agreement between the Government of Japan and the United States with Secretary Perry in country on Monday at noon. That is part of several initiatives that we hope to be taking over the next four to five days.

Q: On the issue of the rape itself and the SOFA agreement which was discussed earlier. The rape was kind of, I guess, the match that lit the fuse on this whole thing. And it wasn't so much the Governor of Okinawa's request for those changes on Okinawa. You've talked about the SOFA agreement, and how there's been kind of a informal promise to turn over these people on a case by case basis. Do you expect anything more dramatic to be announced, any changes to be announced while you're there on this whole deal to assure the Japanese people, who were horrified by this, that in the future if this happens, that people will be turned over immediately?

Defense Department Briefer: We have virtually made that commitment. The Japanese Government was very grateful for how quickly the Government of the United States responded right up the chain, including the President of the United States, Secretary Christopher, Secretary Perry. We immediately began discussions about how to adjust our SOFA. We have done everything possible to make it clear our profound feelings of regret for what has transpired. The best way that we can see to move forward at this juncture is to take what we have learned, and also to try to move very firmly forward to revitalize the U.S./Japan security relationship.

Press: Thank you.

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