| 11.07.2004 The Korea Herald Japan still pursuing abduction issue with N. Korea By Choi Soung-ah President Roh Moo-hyun and Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura on Saturday shared the common view that the six-nation talks on resolving North Korea's nuclear row should move forward smoothly to help end the standoff, a presidential spokesman said Saturday. Their joint comments came as the disarmament talks between South and North Korea, the United States, Japan, China and Russia on ending Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions have been stalled, with the communist country continuing to rule out talks with the United States unless Washington shifts what it calls the hostile policy toward it. Chief negotiators of the six countries have met three times to try to end the 25-month nuclear row but have failed to produce a breakthrough. The participants agreed in June at the end of the third plenary session to hold the next session before September, but Pyongyang later refused to return to the negotiating table. "It's crucial for Japan, the United States and South Korea to join forces in dealing with North Korea," he said. Roh agreed his government had to develop joint policies with Japan and the United States concerning South-North relations. "I want to work closely with Japan and the United States," he said. Machimura also told Roh that the government would consider economic sanctions against North Korea if no progress was made on the abduction issue in the next round of working-level talks to be held in Pyongyang on Tuesday. Japan and North Korea will hold their third round of working-level talks on the abduction issue from Nov. 9-12. Pyongyang said its members of the committee in charge of reinvestigating the whereabouts of 10 missing Japanese believed abducted by North Korea would attend the talks. Many Japanese have been angered by the attitude of North Korean delegates at the bilateral working-level meetings, prompting calls to impose sanctions on the country immediately, Machimura said. "Japan has to think about measures dealing with North Korea after seeing how it acts at the next working-level meeting," Machimura said. In addition to discussing the abduction issue at the working-level meeting, Machimura said he also would urge Pyongyang to agree unconditionally to a round of six-way talks on its nuclear arms program before the end of the year. During the meeting with Roh, the Japanese top diplomat expressed gratitude for Seoul's letters of consolation for the recent devastation by powerful earthquakes in his country. Roh said he felt sorry about the quakes and hoped Japan will quickly overcome the damage and tide over the difficulties by cooperating in many ways. A series of quakes hit Niigata, about 250 kilometers northwest of Tokyo, late last month, leaving at least 31 people dead and more than 100,000 homeless. President Roh and Machimura also affirmed their commitment to talks on agreeing a bilateral free trade pact next year. In a meeting that followed, the Japanese foreign minister also met with his South Korean counterpart Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon to discuss North Korea's nuclear weapons program and other bilateral issues. The first meeting between Ban and Machimura was dominated by the North Korean nuclear issue but another sensitive matter, Seoul's desire to change the location of an upcoming summit between Roh and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, was also addressed. Roh and Koizumi are scheduled to meet on the southern Japanese island of Kagoshima from Nov. 17-18. South Korea frowns on the area's links to Japan's militaristic past. The two ministers also discussed working toward permanent visa-free travel between the two countries to promote better tourism and exchange. "After the exchange-student visa exemption program with Korea began in April for elementary to high school students, Koreans entering Japan reached 15,000 in the last six months," Machimura told Ban. "This is an improvement in the number of visitors and a good effect, and we will look into ways to durably exempt visas for Koreans entering Japan." South Korea currently grants visa-free entry into the country for Japanese visitors to promote tourism here. Later in the day, Machimura held similar talks with Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on the North Korean nuclear issue. Arriving in Seoul late Friday, Machimura also visited the national cemetery in southern Seoul, a rare move done only on a few occasions by previous Japanese foreign ministers. He ended his three-day visit and returned to Japan on Sunday. ([email protected]) |
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