Japan to accept delisting of N. Korea if progress made on denuke

TOKYO, Oct. 10 Kyodo - Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone expressed willingness Friday to accept a U.S. plan to check North Korea off its blacklist of terrorism-sponsoring states if satisfactory developments on resolving the nuclear issue, including six-party agreement on a verification regime, is realized.

''I don't know when and what kind of decision the United States will make, but
I believe that Japan will be consulted before the final decision is made,''
Nakasone told a news conference. ''If it is something that Japan too feels is
satisfactory in resolving the nuclear issue, then I think it is fine.''
The remarks came after Japanese government sources told Kyodo News that the
United States has notified Japan that it will take North Korea off the list by
the end of this month as Washington came to a certain degree of understanding
with Pyongyang over the verification of North Korea's nuclear programs.
Similarly, the Washington Post also reported that the delisting may take place
as early as Friday, citing unnamed sources.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said, however, ''It is not a fact that
Japan received notification'' that the delisting will happen by the end of this
month.
Kawamura also said Japan thinks that the delisting of North Korea is unlikely
to occur at present. ''At least at this present moment, we think that the
situation does not seem to immediately lead to the removal from the list of
terrorism-sponsoring nations,'' he said.
Nakasone emphasized that it would be up to the United States to decide whether
to remove North Korea from the list as it is ''an issue of the application of
U.S. domestic law,'' and acknowledged that the delisting will be acceptable to
Japan if an agreement on the specifics of the verification regime is reached.
''The verification regime has to be one that is acceptable and agreeable to the
six nations,'' he said, referring to North and South Korea, China, Japan,
Russia and the United States.
Regarding the results of U.S.-North Korea talks last week, Nakasone declined to
provide details but said he has conveyed to U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas
Schieffer that Japan believes that further ''confirmation'' on certain issues
remain necessary.
Nakasone also downplayed the possible impact of the delisting on Japan's
efforts to resolve North Korea's past abductions of Japanese nationals, saying
he considers the abduction issue ''separately from'' the nuclear issue.
This contrasts with former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura's repeated calls
for the United States to use the delisting as a ''bargaining chip'' to the
fullest extent to press for progress in resolving the abduction issue.
Japan had urged the United States to refrain from taking North Korea off the
list until progress is made on the issue of Pyongyang's abduction of Japanese
nationals in the 1970s and 1980s.
North Korea has yet to act on its promise to launch a committee by the end of
fall to reinvestigate the abduction cases. It has also suspended the
disablement process at a nuclear facility and began work to reactivate it in
defiance of a six-party agreement.
Earlier on Friday, Japan extended its sanctions against North Korea for another
six months.