NKorea demands again apologies & compensations from Japan.

25/3 Tass 116

PYONGYANG, March 25 (Itar-Tass) - In the opinion of the North Korean
government newspaper Minju Joson Tokyo "should bring apologies for the
crimes during the colonial sway in Korea in 1910-1945 and pay an
appropriate compensation".
According to the newspaper, "this is the only way for improving
relations between the two countries".
The newspaper lashed out at a recent statement by the Japanese
ambassador in Seoul, linking normalisation of relations with North Korea
with a package of questions, connected with its missile-nuclear programme
as well as with the so-called abduction of Japanese citizens.
Minju Joson notes that Tokyo "deliberately sidetracks attention of the
international community from the problem of denuclearising the Korean
Peninsula and makes attempts to scuttle the process". For this purpose,
the Japanese authorities again raised "the problem of hostage
kidnappings", which has nothing to do with the nuclear problem, which
"only aggravates relations between Pyongyang and Tokyo", the newspaper
sums up.
According to the regional mass media, North Korea had admitted the
fact of kidnapping Japanese several years ago and repatriated five people.
Following this move, the people's republic regards this topic closed.
However, Tokyo demands a new investigation, claiming that much more people
had been abducted.
In turn, Pyongyang repeatedly demanded that Japan should be scrapped
from the number of the six-party talks participants on the nuclear problem
of the Korea Peninsula, referring to its negative stand.
-0-bur/ast