ID :
9844
Thu, 06/12/2008 - 15:01
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/9844
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JAPAN REPEATS DEMAND ON NKOREA ABDUCTION CASES ON 1ST DAY OF TALKS
BEIJING, June 12 (Kyodo) - Japan repeated on Wednesday its demand that North Korea get to the bottom of the abduction cases of Japanese nationals by the North's agents, as envoys from the two countries met for their first formal talks in nine months aimed at
normalizing ties.
North Korea plans to explain its position on the abduction cases, which Japan considers the top priority topic, when they meet again Thursday in Beijing, Japan's envoy Akitaka Saiki told reporters after Wednesday's talks.
''I once again presented the Japanese government's position on the abduction issue,'' said Saiki, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau.
North Korea said it will ''discuss its position in detail in talks tomorrow morning,'' he said.
The two-day, working-level meeting began at the North Korean Embassy in the afternoon. Saiki and Song Il Ho, North Korea's ambassador for normalization talks with Japan, will meet again Thursday morning at the Japanese Embassy.
The talks are the first full-fledged bilateral negotiations since the two countries held a meeting in Ulan Bator in September under the six-party framework aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
While the first day of talks was spent mainly on Japan presenting its position on outstanding issues, the two sides agreed on the need to solve disputes based on a September 2002 landmark document issued by the two countries, according to Saiki.
''We confirmed the notion that we should promote Japan-North Korea ties based on the Pyongyang Declaration,'' Saiki said.
The declaration, signed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, commits the two nations to work toward establishment of diplomatic relations after resolving their disputes.
One of the thorniest issues involves the number of Japanese nationals North Korean agents abducted in the 1970s and 1980s, and the fates of some of them, including whether they are still alive.
Japan has repeatedly demanded that Pyongyang reopen or newly investigate the cases of 12 of the 17 abductees on Japan's official list -- all except five who were returned to Japan in October 2002.
North Korea admitted in September 2002 that its agents abducted or lured 13 Japanese, including the repatriated five, to the country, but said eight have died and it has no record of two others on Japan's list having entered its territory. Two more people were later added to Tokyo's official list of abduction victims.
North Korea has said in the past that it considers the cases closed.
It refrained from using that phrase in the Ulan Bator talks, prompting some to interpret it as a sign of a subtle policy shift. But a recent commentary in North Korea's state media has repeated that the cases were indeed settled, raising the question of whether there is any change in Pyongyang's view.
Hoping to pressure North Korea to act, Japan has asked the United States not to take the country off its blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism until progress is made on the abduction cases.
Saiki said that in Wednesday's talks he also repeated Japan's call for North Korea to hand over Japanese radicals who hijacked a Japan Airlines plane to North Korea in 1970.
Four of the nine Japanese hijackers who sought asylum in North Korea remain in the country. Three others involved have died and two later returned to Japan and were convicted.
Tokyo insists the handover should be unconditional. North Korea says that although it will not stand in the way of the hijackers' return, conditions should be worked out between the Japanese government and the hijackers.
North Korea's top concern, meanwhile, is its demand that Japan make reparations for its 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.
Saiki said Japan is prepared to discuss the issue on Thursday.
''We will be hearing the other side's views on the settlement of the past,'' he said. ''We will of course be presenting our view on that issue of North Korea's concern.''
normalizing ties.
North Korea plans to explain its position on the abduction cases, which Japan considers the top priority topic, when they meet again Thursday in Beijing, Japan's envoy Akitaka Saiki told reporters after Wednesday's talks.
''I once again presented the Japanese government's position on the abduction issue,'' said Saiki, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau.
North Korea said it will ''discuss its position in detail in talks tomorrow morning,'' he said.
The two-day, working-level meeting began at the North Korean Embassy in the afternoon. Saiki and Song Il Ho, North Korea's ambassador for normalization talks with Japan, will meet again Thursday morning at the Japanese Embassy.
The talks are the first full-fledged bilateral negotiations since the two countries held a meeting in Ulan Bator in September under the six-party framework aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
While the first day of talks was spent mainly on Japan presenting its position on outstanding issues, the two sides agreed on the need to solve disputes based on a September 2002 landmark document issued by the two countries, according to Saiki.
''We confirmed the notion that we should promote Japan-North Korea ties based on the Pyongyang Declaration,'' Saiki said.
The declaration, signed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, commits the two nations to work toward establishment of diplomatic relations after resolving their disputes.
One of the thorniest issues involves the number of Japanese nationals North Korean agents abducted in the 1970s and 1980s, and the fates of some of them, including whether they are still alive.
Japan has repeatedly demanded that Pyongyang reopen or newly investigate the cases of 12 of the 17 abductees on Japan's official list -- all except five who were returned to Japan in October 2002.
North Korea admitted in September 2002 that its agents abducted or lured 13 Japanese, including the repatriated five, to the country, but said eight have died and it has no record of two others on Japan's list having entered its territory. Two more people were later added to Tokyo's official list of abduction victims.
North Korea has said in the past that it considers the cases closed.
It refrained from using that phrase in the Ulan Bator talks, prompting some to interpret it as a sign of a subtle policy shift. But a recent commentary in North Korea's state media has repeated that the cases were indeed settled, raising the question of whether there is any change in Pyongyang's view.
Hoping to pressure North Korea to act, Japan has asked the United States not to take the country off its blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism until progress is made on the abduction cases.
Saiki said that in Wednesday's talks he also repeated Japan's call for North Korea to hand over Japanese radicals who hijacked a Japan Airlines plane to North Korea in 1970.
Four of the nine Japanese hijackers who sought asylum in North Korea remain in the country. Three others involved have died and two later returned to Japan and were convicted.
Tokyo insists the handover should be unconditional. North Korea says that although it will not stand in the way of the hijackers' return, conditions should be worked out between the Japanese government and the hijackers.
North Korea's top concern, meanwhile, is its demand that Japan make reparations for its 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.
Saiki said Japan is prepared to discuss the issue on Thursday.
''We will be hearing the other side's views on the settlement of the past,'' he said. ''We will of course be presenting our view on that issue of North Korea's concern.''
