Iijima's Pyongyang Visit Adds to Discord with Seoul

Seoul, May 16 (Jiji Press)--The current visit by Isao Iijima, a special adviser to the Japanese cabinet secretariat, to North Korea has added to the discord between Japan and South Korea, which are at loggerheads over history and territorial issues. A South Korean official said the visit does nothing to benefit cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan on North Korean issues. Tokyo responded by expressing its displeasure at the comment. Tokyo informed Seoul of Iijima's Pyongyang visit through diplomatic channels on Wednesday, a South Korean Foreign Ministry official said at a press conference on Thursday. Iijima's visit does no good to international efforts to work closely on issues related to North Korea, including those among the three Pacific allies, the official also said. The official went on to claim that the Japanese government expressed regret over its failure to inform Seoul earlier. At a news conference in Tokyo, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, "I don't understand what the official means." Suga also questioned whether the purported regret was expressed. "I guess that the talks were held between senior foreign ministry officials. We don't know whether the word of regret was actually spoken." Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have not eased as North Korea still sticks to the path of nuclear development. Last week, the United States and South Korea agreed at a bilateral summit meeting in Washington to continue to press the North to show progress in denuclearization. Washington is seeking action toward denuclearization as a condition for resuming dialogue with Pyongyang. Seoul is pushing for talks with Pyongyang over a South-North joint industrial complex closed due to military tensions, but no progress has been made. North Korea has made Iijima's visit public, while Japanese officials declined to confirm the visit. Pyongyang apparently wants to take advantage of the visit to weaken trilateral cooperation between Japan, South Korea and the United States. The South Korean government is apparently viewing Iijima's visit to Pyongyang as a move by Japan to prioritize the issue of abductions by North Korea of Japanese nationals. Seoul seems worried that Tokyo is acting just as Pyongyang wishes. END