On January 28, DPJ Next Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Kazuhiro Haraguchi issued the following statement.

Recently, the new Chairman of NHK held his inaugural press conference. NHK is a public broadcaster and as such, along with a high level of public spirit, is required to possess political neutrality or, in other words, a high degree of impartiality. However, in his inaugural press conference the new Chairman made a stream of thoughtless and inappropriate comments.

First of all, with regard to the comfort women system used by the Imperial Army, he stated that this "was something that happened in any nation", went so far as to name individual countries, and made remarks that trampled on the rights of women. These outrageous comments are totally lacking in sense from an international perspective as well.

Furthermore, when asked for his opinion on how NHK should transmit information regarding the special secrets protection law, concerning which numerous problems have been pointed out, he answered, "Well, since the law has been passed, then I think that there is not much point in my speaking about it." I cannot help but be amazed by this response. His position that he does not even intend to monitor the operation of the law completely abdicates NHK's responsibility as a media organization.

Moreover, when asked how he would respond if those responsible for actually producing broadcasting held a different opinion from himself, he went so far as to say: "I would expect them to obtain my approval." If programme makers are expected to make surmises as to the opinion of the Chairman on a regular basis, there is a danger that programme making will atrophy, and it will not be possible for NHK to produce broadcasts that show a multiplicity of viewpoints.
The responsibility of the board of governors of NHK, who appointed a person who does not seem to possess one iota of the sense of responsibility and international awareness required of the head of a public broadcaster, cannot be ignored. However, one of the new governors appointed by the Abe administration has repeatedly made remarks which denigrate the social participation of women, and so there are also already doubts about the quality of the board members themselves. In this respect, the responsibility of the Abe administration in selecting such personnel is called into question.

The Democratic Party of Japan will continue to pursue this issue in the Diet, and to submit a proposal for revision of the broadcasting act to the Diet, in order to ensure that good quality broadcasts with a high level of public spirit and neutrality can be provided to the Japanese people.