[USFK Forums] North Korea, Japan End Talks [AP]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Thursday, February 9, 2006

North Korea, Japan End Talks

By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writer
Wed Feb 8, 6:36 AM ET

(BEIJING) - North Korea and Japan on Wednesday ended five days of high-level talks aimed at establishing diplomatic relations without any agreements, citing major differences on the North's abduction of Japanese nationals and its nuclear program.

Song Il Ho, the North's chief envoy to the talks, also publicly appealed to Japan to urge the United States to lift economic sanctions on Pyongyang, saying the North won't return to nuclear disarmament talks until that happens.

The two sides agreed to meet again to "narrow our differences" but did not set a date, Song said. The discussions, which began in Beijing on Saturday, were the highest-level contacts between the two sides in three years on possible diplomatic ties.

"For the last five days we discussed the issue of normalization, abductions and security," Song said. "We got to know each other's positions more clearly. At the same time, however, we discovered that there's a big difference of opinion."

Song's Japanese counterpart, Koichi Haraguchi, said the two governments understood each other better but "we discovered that there's a big difference of opinion."

Tokyo says it won't agree to form relations unless the North settles disputes over its nuclear and missile programs and divulges information about its abduction of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and '80s.

Haraguchi said there were "still lingering doubts about what kind of efforts have been put in, and when concrete steps will be taken" to resolve the issues.

North Korea pledged in September to give up its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security assurances. But progress has stalled since then, in part because of North Korean anger over financial restrictions that Washington imposed over alleged North Korean counterfeiting and weapons proliferation.

China is trying to restart six-nation talks aimed at persuading the North to give up its nuclear development. Japan also is taking part in those talks, along with South Korea, the United States and Russia.

"We are ready to return to talks under one condition, and that is that the United States lift its sanctions," Song said. "The United States won't hear this from us. But if Japan tells the United States, if a friend tells a friend, they might listen."

The most contentious dispute between Japan and North Korea remained the abductions, with no breakthroughs reported after two rounds of talks on the issue.

Japan has been pushing for information on Japanese citizens who were abducted by North Korean agents to teach spies language and culture. The North in 2002 acknowledged abducting 13 Japanese and allowed five to return home. It said the other eight were dead, but Japan is demanding proof.

Negotiators have also been discussing whether North Koreans who were involved in the kidnappings will be brought to justice.

"One achievement of the dialogue is that we were able to make clear our concerns and demands to the North Korean side," Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said in Tokyo. "However, as for the abduction issue, the North Korean side unfortunately did not respond to our demands. I find this extremely regrettable."

On Tuesday, the North said it wanted Japan to hand over members of Rescue the North Korean People, a Japan-based activist group that has reportedly helped North Korean refugees in China's northeast. But it wasn't clear whether the North was making that a condition of forming diplomatic relations.

Thousands of North Koreans have fled into China to escape Pyongyang's repressive leadership and widespread hunger. The North's government has accused foreign activist groups of abducting North Koreans and has demanded that they be brought to justice.

Envoys also talked about the North's missile program, possible reparations by Japan for its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula and the return of cultural relics.



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