Japan Press Weekly

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2018 October 24 - 30 [JCP]

JCP Vice Chair speaks at ICAPP assembly

Japanese Communist Party Vice Chair Ogata Yasuo on October 25 delivered a speech at the plenary session of the Tenth General Assembly of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) in Moscow in which representatives from 70 political parties from throughout Asia participated.

On the first day of the ICAPP GA, Ogata referred to the recent moves towards denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula agreed upon in the past three Pyongyang-Seoul summit meetings and the first Pyongyang-Washington summit meeting. Ogata said that the JCP greatly welcomes this major change "from hostility to dialogue" and supports the move for peace in the region.

Noting that the ICAPP in its GA statements repeatedly endorsed negotiations on a nuclear-weapons ban treaty or called for the swift start of negotiations on that treaty, Ogata asked for cooperation in promoting and achieving the early enforcement of the treaty to establish a "world without nuclear weapons".

However, the "Moscow Declaration" adopted after the 2-day discussion does not mention the issue of nuclear weapons at all. Therefore, the JCP delegation expressed "partial reservation" due to this missing part in the declaration.

The declaration welcomes the initiatives taken by South Korean and North Korean leadership to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and also welcomes the Panmunjom Declaration as well as the results of a series of summit meetings in Pyongyang.

Past related articles:
> JCP Takeda in Diet brings up ICAPP regarding Japan’s diplomacy [April 17, 2018]
> Interview with Shii on 9th General Assembly of ICAPP in Kuala Lumpur [September 11, 2016]
> JCP voices reservations about ICAPP declaration over nuclear weapons issue [September 5, 2016]