Schieffer tells abductees' kin N. Korea delisted to keep 6-way talks+

TOKYO, Oct. 16 Kyodo - U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer told families of Japanese victims of abduction by North Korea on Thursday that Washington took Pyongyang off its blacklist of nations sponsoring terrorism to keep the stalled six-party nuclear talks alive.
Schieffer sought understanding from the families that the United States had to
select between continuing or terminating the talks aimed at denuclearizing
North Korea, suggesting the chosen move would work to help advance efforts to
resolve the abduction issue.
''If we had ended the six-party talks last weekend, it would have made it very
much more difficult to make progress on the abduction issue,'' the envoy said
during a press opportunity at the end of their half-hour meeting at his
official residence in Tokyo.
Schieffer said the U.S. decision came as North Korea ''orally (gave) us
everything that we'd asked for as far as the verification protocol was
concerned,'' referring to measures for checking whether the country is actually
taking denuclearization steps.
He said the next step in the six-party process would be for all parties to get
together to put North Korea's oral agreements into writing. The multilateral
talks involve North and South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and
Russia.
''The United States will continue to support Japan and these families in their
efforts to get this situation resolved,'' Schieffer said.
Shigeru Yokota, whose daughter Megumi was abducted to North Korea in 1977 at
age 13, said he understands well the U.S. position but asked Washington to
exert leadership so the agreements toward Pyongyang's nuclear disablement will
not only be put into writing but also implemented.
''It would work negatively if North Korea were to break its promise again,''
Yokota, 75, told reporters after meeting with Schieffer together with Shigeo
Iizuka, the 70-year-old elder brother of another abductee, Yaeko Taguchi.
Iizuka, who earlier expressed strong disappointment over the delisting, said he
now acknowledges the removal of North Korea from the blacklist involves only
one of many sanctions the United States has imposed on the country and so that
alone would not immediately make things rosy for Pyongyang.
''The ambassador said it was a decision that fully took into consideration that
the Japanese abduction issue may be in danger of being lost if the six-party
talks are not moved forward,'' Iizuka said.
''I was able to confirm that the United States intends to discuss (the two
issues) without separating them,'' he said.
The U.S. State Department said Saturday that Washington has delisted North
Korea, despite objections from Japan which has argued that Pyongyang should
remain on the blacklist until the abduction issue is properly addressed.