결재
차관
국장
가번호 : TM-0181
암호번호 : MTB-18

발신시간 : 221400

수신인 : FOREIGN MINISTER
발신인 : COUNSELLOR CHIN
(COPY TO AMBASSADOR YIU )
REGARDING NEWS ARTICLES ON "COMPENSATION". WITH REGARD TO RECENT PRESS DESPATCHES FROM SEOUL CONCERNING KOREA-JAPAN TALKS ON "COMPENSATION" (PARTICULARLY REFERING TO THE UPI DESPATCH OF JANUARY 20 FROM SEOUL), CHIEF OF THE NORTHEAST ASIA SECTION OF THE JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTRY NAKAGAWA CALLED ME UP THIS MORNING OVER TELEPHONE AND STATED IN THE FOLLOWING EFFECT:
IT IS REGRETTED TO FIND THAT SOME FACT ABOUT "COMPENSATION" PROBLEM HAS BEEN REVEALED BY THE GOVERNMENT SOURCE IN SEOUL ACCORDING TO NEWS REPORT. IF THE STORY ON "COMPENSATION" IS CONTINUOUSLY PLAYED UP BY NEWSPAPERS, THE MATTER WOULD INEVITABLY BE TAKEN UP AT THE DIET SESSION WHICH WILL BE RESUMED VERY SOON. THUS WHEN THIS MATTER WAS TAKEN UP AT THE DIET, THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT WOULD BE CONFRONTED WITH AN EXTREME DIFFICULTY IN WHICH IT WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO CONTINUE NEGOTIATIONS ON THE MATTER. THEREFORE IT IS STRONGLY DESIRED THAT THE MATTER WILL NOT BE PLAYED UP FURTHER IN NEWSPAPERS.
IN REPLY, I STATED AS FOLLOWING:
PROCEEDING OF THE TALKS ON "COMPENSATION" HAS BEEN KEPT STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL ON THE PART OF THE KOREAN SIDE AND THEREFORE I DON'T THINK THAT THE UPI DESPATCH REFERING TO KOREAN GOVERNMENT SOURCES IS GROUNDED. AS THE BASIC STAND OF THE KOREAN GOVERNMENT DEMANDING "COMPENSATION" IS WIDELY KNOWN, I BELIEVE THAT ANY NEWSREPORT CONCERNING THE NEGOTIATIONS ON "COMPENSATION" MUST HAVE BEEN BASED ON REPORTERS GUESS OR INFORMATION FROM OTHER SOURCES THAN THE KOREAN SIDE. HOWEVER, TAKING NOTE OF HIS REMARKS THAT THE STORY ON "COMPENSATION" SHOULD NOT BE PLAYED UP IN THE PRESS PARLY AT THIS STAGE, I TOLD NAKAGAWA THAT I WOULD REPORT TO AMBASSADOR YIU ON HIS REMARKS