JAPAN: TOKYO SAYS THAT IT WILL NOT NORMALISE TIES OR PROVIDE ECONOMIC AID TO NORTH KOREA UNLESS PYONGYANG SCRAPS ITS NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAMME

Record ID: 640620

  • Title: JAPAN: TOKYO SAYS THAT IT WILL NOT NORMALISE TIES OR PROVIDE ECONOMIC AID TO NORTH KOREA UNLESS PYONGYANG SCRAPS ITS NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAMME
  • Date: 28th October 2002
  • Summary: (W3)TOKYO, JAPAN (OCTOBER 28, 2002) (REUTERS) WIDE OF JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER YORIKO KAWAGUCHI BEING INTERVIEWED BY REUTERS SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) KAWAGUCHI SAYING: "We are asking them to dismantle the programme promptly and also in a verifiable manner, unless they do it quickly, we are saying to them the talks will not move forward. We will try our best to keep them engaged but at the same time, it is vital that they act promptly" SV: (SOUNDBITE) (English) KAWAGUCHI SAYING: "It is very clear: We will not normalise our relations unless they dismantle their nuclear weapons development programme and we will not give any economic assistance before we normalise, so that means we will not give any economic assistance unless they dismantle the programme" (W3) TOKYO, JAPAN (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF JAPANESE ABDUCTEES RETURNING HOME AFTER 24 YEARS IN NORTH KOREA (4 SHOTS) (W3) TOKYO, JAPAN (OCTOBER 28, 2002) (REUTERS) SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) KAWAGUCHI SAYING: "What they've disclosed to us is something that is not enough to make us feel that they are telling us the truth. And I can understand the feelings of these family members really well. They would like to know that happened to them, they will like to know the facts that will verify what they are saying. They said they punished the people that are responsible, we do not know the facts about them. We need to clarify them. We also would like the children of the abductees who are here to come here so they can make a decision in a free environment."
  • Embargoed: 12th November 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: OKYO, AND NIIGATA CITY, NIIGATA PREFECTURE, JAPAN
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA84IYPP42JAIX7P7YH14BTZQ0W
  • Story Text: Japan says it will insist at the upcoming talks in Kuala Lumpur with North Korea that it will not normalise ties with the communist state or provide it with economic aid unless Pyongyang scraps its nuclear weapons programme.
    Japan will not normalise ties with North Korea or provide it with economic aid unless Pyongyang scraps its nuclear weapons programme, but Tokyo will do its best to try to keep the communist state engaged in dialogue, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said on Monday (October 28).
    "We are asking them to dismantle the programme promptly and also in a verifiable manner," she told Reuters in an interview.
    "Unless they do it quickly, we are saying that our talks will not move forward," said Kawaguchi, speaking a day before Japan and North Korea resume talks on establishing diplomatic ties for the first time in two years.
    "We will try our best to keep them engaged, but at the same time, it is vital that they act promptly," she said."
    Kawaguchi said Japan -- which is eager for progress on the emotional matter of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago -- had not set a specific deadline for Pyongyang to respond to the demand to abandon its nuclear arms programme.
    She acknowledged that taking a tough line with Pyongyang carried some risks but echoing a statement by Pacific Rim leaders in Mexico on Sunday, Kawaguchi said it was in North Korea's own interest to comply with the demand to scrap the nuclear weapons programme.
    Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi laid the groundwork in September for a resumption of normalisation talks when he won an unprecedented admission from North Korean leader Kim Jong-il that Pyongyang's agents had kidnapped Japanese to help train spies.
    North Korea later admitted to U.S. officials that it had violated a 1994 agreement to abandon its nuclear weapons programme, raising regional tensions and complicating the outlook for Japan's talks on normalising ties with its former colony.
    Kawaguchi steered clear of predicting whether Japan would break off talks if there was no clear response to Japan's demand during two days of meetings in Kuala Lumpur starting on Tuesday.
    But she made it clear that Japan would not provide aid until the nuclear issue was resolved.
    "We will not normalise our relations unless they dismantle their nuclear weapons development programme and we will not give any economic assistance before we normalise, so that means we will not give any economic assistance unless they dismantle the programme," Kawaguchi said.
    On the issue of the abductees Kawaguchi insisted that they intend to find out the truth behind the many questions left unanswered by Pyongyang.
    "What they've disclosed to us is something that is not enough to make us feel that they are telling us the truth. And I can understand the feelings of these family members really well. They would like to know that happened to them, they will like to know the facts that will verify what they are saying.
    They said they punished the people that are responsible, we do not know the facts about them. We need to clarify them. We also would like the children of the abductees who are here to come here so they can make a decision in a free environment,"
    she said.
    However in an emotional appeal on Monday (October 28) one of the abductees held a press conference where she asked that she be returned to her family.
    "I would like to see both my husband and children as soon as possible to discuss with them at length about this issue. I am sure that both my husband and children must be worried about me. Please allow me to see them again soon," Hitomi Soga told reporters in the northwestern town of Niigata.
    Welcomed back with tears and flowers, five Japanese kidnapped a quarter of a century ago by North Korea have hardly been out of the public eye since arriving in Japan for an emotional visit home nearly two weeks ago.
    The situation changed drastically for the abductees last week when the Japanese government said the abductees would extend their visit past October 28, the tentatively set date for their departure.
    Although family members have expressed pleasure at the government's move, the other abductees have said little.
    Some observers say this is inevitable, as they cannot speak honestly as long as their children remain behind, and that their families are carrying out the fight that they cannot.
    Indeed, many of the abductees cited concern for their North Korean-born children as a reason to return to North Korea. Many of the children, in their late teens and early 20s, have no idea of their heritage.
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