ID :
35233
Fri, 12/12/2008 - 12:51
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/35233
The shortlink copeid
No Japan-N. Korea meeting held during just-ended 6-way nuclear talks
BEIJING, Dec. 11 Kyodo - Japan was unable to hold a meeting with North Korea to address bilateral issues such as the past abductions of Japanese citizens to North Korea on the sidelines of the six-nation talks which ended Thursday, chief Japanese delegate Akitaka Saiki said.
''We called in advance for contact between Japan and North Korea, including a
meeting with Mr. Kim Kye Gwan,'' Saiki told reporters in Beijing, referring to
his North Korean counterpart. ''But to our regret, North Korea probably did not
have a policy of having contact with Japan.''
Saiki, who heads the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau,
added, ''We will seek an opportunity for talks at the level of the Japanese and
North Korean government,'' but did not elaborate.
The Japanese diplomat had shown willingness to meet one-on-one with Kim, North
Korea's vice foreign minister, to discuss the long-standing problem of the
abductions while the six-party talks on denuclearizing North Korea, which began
Monday in Beijing, were in process.
But during the latest round of the multilateral talks, Kim blasted Japan with
strong language for not joining other parties in providing it with economic and
energy aid in exchange for denuclearization steps under a six-nation deal, even
challenging Japan's qualification to take part in the discussions.
Saiki reiterated Japan's position that progress on the abduction issue should
come before it will provide such assistance.
Japan and North Korea have been at odds over the abduction issue, and disputes
over the bilateral problem have been an obstacle to normalizing ties.
Japan recognizes at least 17 citizens, including a 13-year-old girl, as having
been abducted to North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s and has urged North Korea
to clearly account for the cases of those who are still missing.
North Korea has let five of the 17 abductees and their kin return to Japan but
failed to cooperate further, basically saying the problem has already been
settled.
Pyongyang agreed with Tokyo earlier this year to reinvestigate the cases, but
has not yet begun doing so.
''We called in advance for contact between Japan and North Korea, including a
meeting with Mr. Kim Kye Gwan,'' Saiki told reporters in Beijing, referring to
his North Korean counterpart. ''But to our regret, North Korea probably did not
have a policy of having contact with Japan.''
Saiki, who heads the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau,
added, ''We will seek an opportunity for talks at the level of the Japanese and
North Korean government,'' but did not elaborate.
The Japanese diplomat had shown willingness to meet one-on-one with Kim, North
Korea's vice foreign minister, to discuss the long-standing problem of the
abductions while the six-party talks on denuclearizing North Korea, which began
Monday in Beijing, were in process.
But during the latest round of the multilateral talks, Kim blasted Japan with
strong language for not joining other parties in providing it with economic and
energy aid in exchange for denuclearization steps under a six-nation deal, even
challenging Japan's qualification to take part in the discussions.
Saiki reiterated Japan's position that progress on the abduction issue should
come before it will provide such assistance.
Japan and North Korea have been at odds over the abduction issue, and disputes
over the bilateral problem have been an obstacle to normalizing ties.
Japan recognizes at least 17 citizens, including a 13-year-old girl, as having
been abducted to North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s and has urged North Korea
to clearly account for the cases of those who are still missing.
North Korea has let five of the 17 abductees and their kin return to Japan but
failed to cooperate further, basically saying the problem has already been
settled.
Pyongyang agreed with Tokyo earlier this year to reinvestigate the cases, but
has not yet begun doing so.
