防衛増税「説明を徹底」　韓国と緊密協議―岸田首相内外会見

　【ワシントン時事】岸田文雄首相は１４日午前（日本時間１５日未明）、訪問先の米ワシントンで内外記者会見を行った。防衛費の大幅増に伴う増税に関し、「野党との活発な国会論戦を通じ、防衛力強化の内容、予算、財源について国民への説明を徹底したい」と強調。２３日召集の通常国会で丁寧に理解を求めていく考えを示した。
　首相は日韓関係について「（１９６５年の）国交正常化以来の友好関係の基盤に基づき、健全な形に戻し、さらに発展させるため、韓国政府と引き続き緊密に意思疎通を図っていきたい」と改めて表明。ただ、元徴用工問題を巡り、韓国の公益法人が日本企業の賠償金を肩代わりする案を韓国政府が公表したことについては論評を避けた。（2023/01/15-00:50）

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday vowed to work thoroughly at the upcoming regular session of the Diet, the country's parliament, to gain understanding for his government's plan to raise taxes for funds to cover an envisaged hike in defense spending.
   "Through active discussions with opposition parties at the Diet, I want to give full explanations to the public about specific measures to reinforce our country's defense capabilities as well as the defense budget and necessary financial resources," he told a press conference in Washington. The regular Diet session is set to begin on Jan. 23.
   On the diplomatic front, Kishida said that he hopes to keep in close communication with the South Korean government to restore the soured bilateral relationship back to a healthy state and develop it further based on the two countries' friendship since their diplomatic normalization in 1965.
   The Japan-South Korea relations have deteriorated sharply due to the issue of South Koreans requisitioned to work for Japanese companies during World War II and other problems.
   Kishida avoided commenting on the South Korean government's recent announcement of a plan for a domestic public benefit foundation to pay compensation over the wartime labor issue on behalf of Japanese companies involved.