Japan, N. Korea open new round of talks

From staff and wire reports

BEIJING -- Adding to a year of remarkable diplomatic overtures from North Korea, the Pyongyang government is preparing for a new round of talks with Japan.

The talks begin Monday in the Chinese capital, On the agenda are thorny issues that hamper efforts to normalize ties between the two nations. North Korea insists that Japan apologize for colonizing the Korean Peninsula, while Japan is seeking a North Korean investigation into into allegations that several Japanese citizens were abducted by Pyongyang in the 1960s and 1970s.

Japan may also discuss further ways to offer North Korea further humanitarian and economic assitance.

The two nations have held two rounds of talks earlier this year, but little progress was reported. Observers warn that Japan risks diluting its diplomatic influence in the region if it delays improving ties with North Korea.

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Already this year, North Korea has held historic summits with leaders from South Korea and the United States. Additionally, Britain, Germany and Spain have revealed plans to establish diplomatic ties with North Korea.

Some Japan political observers, meanwhile, say that a diplomatic gaffe by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori could cast a shadow over the new round of talks.

Mori caused a furor when he told British Prime Minister Tony Blair on October 20 that he had suggested solving a dispute with North Korea over Japanese citizens whom Tokyo charges were kidnapped by Pyongyang by having them "found" in a third country.

The disclosure of a confidential diplomatic matter could impede a solution to the abduction issue, according to analysts.

"Prime Minister Mori's comment has made it all the more difficult for the two governments to resolve the dispute," said Noriyuki Suzuki, chief analyst at Radiopress news agency, which specialises in monitoring North Korean media.

The alleged abduction of 10 Japanese citizens in the 1960s and 1970s is one of the thorniest issues barring the two historic foes from establishing diplomatic relations. Tokyo insists progress on the issue is a condition for normalising ties.

North Korea has denied abducting anyone but has agreed to launch a nationwide investigation into the fate of what it calls "missing" Japanese nationals.

No breakthrough expected

A Japanese government source said in Beijing on Sunday the two sides will have "substantive" discussions on Tokyo's rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

North Korea has set a chilly tone for the talks, saying Japan's charges of abduction and inability to apologise for colonising the Korean peninsula made it impossible to trust Tokyo and improve relations.

"Even at the historic turn of the century, Japan, clamouring about a non-existent 'kidnapping issue' of North Korea, still refuses to make a proper apology for the unprecedented crimes the Japanese imperialists committed in the past," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported the North's ruling party paper as saying.

"Without Japan's honest reflection and apology there can be no trust and improved relations between North Korea and Japan," KCNA reported.

Japan and North Korea have held two rounds of talks aimed at resuming ties this year, but have failed to narrow gaps over Pyongyang's demands for an apology and compensation for Japan's harsh rule of the Korean peninsula.

Japan has refused North Korea's demand for compensation, but floated the idea of something similar to what it provided to South Korea when they normalised ties in 1965 when it gave aid worth $500 million.

Japan was considering extending some $9 billion in economic aid to the communist state, the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper has said.

Change in Japanese strategy

Japanese government sources said prior to Mori's blunder Tokyo had tentatively planned to discuss its undisclosed aid scheme in the Beijing talks.

"The plan was virtually scrapped. But we could revive it depending on the North Korean response," one source said.

A source close to the North Korean government said its negotiators were expected to touch on Mori's verbal blunder and make Pyongyang's position clear that it was not involved in the disappearance of the Japanese citizens.

"What Mori said implies that the DPRK (North Korea) actually kidnapped the Japanese nationals. That is absolutely not acceptable," the source said.

The families of those believed to have been kidnapped have stepped up their calls on the government not to forget the fate of their loved ones.

In historic talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang last week, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright brought up the abduction issue. Kim stayed silent.

Japan, eager to keep up the momentum of normalisation talks, approved a controversial plan this month to donate 500,000 tonnes of rice to North Korea through the World Food Programme.

But analysts warn that Japan could run the risk of being isolated and losing its diplomatic influence in Asia if it drags its feet on efforts to improve ties with Pyongyang.

"Japan might become increasingly isolated while other countries open diplomatic relations with North Korea," said Nozomu Akizuki, a professor of Asian diplomacy at Tokyo's Meiji Gakuin University. "Japan is walking on a dangerous bridge."

Reuters contributed to this report.

Japan steps up for its turn at N. Korea talks
October 26, 2000
N. Korean disclosure of nuclear missile program vital, U.S. says
October 25, 2000

Prime Minister's Office (Japan)
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)
Korean Information Service
North Korea: Politics and Government
North Korea
UniKorea

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