[USFK Forums] Pyongyang may resolve abduction question: report [Japan Times]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Saturday, December 24, 2005

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The Japan Times Printer Friend

Pyongyang may resolve abduction question: report

North Korea may offer a solution to the current standoff with Tokyo over Pyongyang's abductions of Japanese citizens before Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi leaves office next September, in an effort to help normalize bilateral relations, according to a report released Friday by the Public Security Intelligence Agency.

The annual internal and external security assessment comes a day before Japan and North Korea are scheduled to begin a two-day meeting in Beijing.

Claiming the abduction issue is settled, Pyongyang has till now focused on demands for compensation from Japan for its colonial rule, including for forcing Korean women to work as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during the war, the report said.

But it notes Pyongyang hopes Koizumi, who visited the North in 2002 and 2004 and met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, will lay the groundwork for normalizing ties before he leaves office.

Koizumi has said he will step down as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party -- and thus as prime minister -- in September.

The Japan Times: Dec. 24, 2005
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