LIVE: Blinken Meets With Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya

Hi, how are you? How are you? Nice to meet you. Thank you. Today is the 11th of November. It's been a long time since I last visited Peru. I'm very honored to be able to visit Peru again. First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to pay my respects to the late President Carter, who has left a great legacy behind. Once again, I would like to thank him. It is my honor to welcome you today to Japan, very soon after our meeting in Peru this November. First of all, we are deeply saddened to learn the passing of former President Carter, who left behind a legacy of incredible achievement. I would like to once again express our heartfelt condolences. I also wish to extend my deepest emphasis to the victims of the tragic incident in New Orleans and convey my thoughts and prayers to those who were injured. Such acts of violence can never be justified under any circumstances. During these challenging times, I want to express Japan's deep bond of solidarity with the U.S. government and American people. I deeply appreciate your visit to Japan despite the conflicts already surrounding these events. We believe that the fact that your first overseas trip as Secretary of State was to Japan and that you have chosen to visit again as your tenure draws to a close underscores the importance you place on the U.S.-Japan relationship. Over the past four years under your tenure as Secretary of State, the Japan-U.S. alliance has grown stronger than ever. I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound respect for your friendship with Japan and your tremendous contributions to the Japan-U.S. relationship. Looking ahead, I am committed to elevating the Japan-U.S. alliance to new heights. To that end, I am very much looking forward to engaging in discussion with you regarding the current regional affairs and the state of the Japan-U.S. relations. Thank you. The key and weak of how it's done is the strength of this relationship, of this partnership. We have, between our two countries, a partnership that started out focusing on bilateral issues and worked on regional issues and now is genuinely global. And that is, more than anything else, a reflection of the extraordinary success that Japan has in having such a strong global brand. It's something that the United States has supported and has valued. So we know that even though we're in a post-transition, the world doesn't stop. It doesn't wait for our transitions. There is much on our common agenda that's important to be working on. We had just yesterday another missile-class flight of the PPRK, among many other things. So I look forward, as well, to where we are and where we can continue going together. We've had very successful meetings over the last year. Our security team plus two – oh, I'm sorry, three opportunities for interpretation. Please, go ahead. Thank you. Thank you, Ambassador. Thank God we have a diplomat here. Please, go ahead. Thank you. Well, for the sake of the Chancellor, I'll keep it brief. I'd like to say that the work that we've done through our security team plus two, our economic team plus two, the teams we're doing every day, I think the foundational strength for our alliance is your energy. The better, the more we've seen that. I continue to like you to grow and lead. Thank you. Do you mind if we – Yes, because – All of it. Thank you. I'm going to go back to my cell phone. I'm sorry.