TNAG-2776-FCO40-3993-Hong-Kong-questions-for-the-Legislative-Council-(LEGCO)-on-c-1993 — Page 10

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PROVISIONAL TRANSLATION

Introductory Remarks by Prime Minister Hosokawa at the Joint Press Conference

Kyongju, Republic of Korea

November 7, 1993

1. I am glad, above all, to have been able to meet with President Kim Young Sam of the Republic of Korea at Kyong-ju, and to have been able to undertake a frank exchange of views in a free atmosphere. I wish to thank President Kim

d all those who have extended to us such warm hospitality.

2.

Both President Kim and 1 are aiming to achieve historic reform in response to the needs of the times. I have a strong sense of empathy with President Kim for the reform which he is advancing, and I wish to pay him my strong and deep respect for his courage and leadership.

3. The international community is currently faced with the historic task of building a new order for peace in the post-Cold War era. During my meeting with President Kim, we reaffirmed our common recognition regarding the question of possible development of nuclear weapons on the part of North Korea. By continuing to promote further cooperative relations in the international community, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, I should like for our two nations to build “a Japan-Republic of Korea relationship for the international community" on an even firmer foundation.

4. As neighbors sharing the basic common values of freedom. democracy and the market economy, further development in Japan-Republic of Korea relations is a priority task for both our nations. At this time. I would like first of all to express my deep remorse and sincerely apologize for Japan's actions during the past colonial domination by Japan, by which the people of the Korean Peninsula were deprived of the opportunity to be educated at school in their own language. were forced to take on Japanese names in place of their own names, and were made to experience unbearable sorrow and suffering in countless other ways. Furthermore, while squarely facing the past, and taking them to heart as lessons of history. I intend to redouble my efforts. together with President Kim, to make the Japan-Republic of Korea partnership a firm and future-oriented relationship.