Don't haggle over abduction issue

北朝鮮問題の対処法

The North Korean delegation, stressing that the abduction issue has already been "broadly resolved," insisted that Japanese economic aid take precedence over other issues. Pyongyang, it must be said, has misread public opinion in Japan. As the Japanese delegation made clear, Japan will not be able to provide such assistance as long as the abduction issue lingers.

North Korea allowed five surviving abductees to return to Japan on Oct. 15 for family reunions for the first time in 24 years — on the assumption that they would stay here for just a week or two. The Japanese government, however, last week decided to let them remain here permanently. Moreover, it is demanding that their children, now in Pyongyang, be reunited with their parents here. Tokyo also is said to be considering allowing an abductee's American husband to settle in Japan.

Separately, North Korea's attempt to produce nuclear bombs is a grave security concern to Japan. During two days of talks in the Malaysian capital, Pyongyang refused to disclose details of its uranium-enrichment program, whose existence it had revealed earlier this month. Nor did it commit itself to abandoning its nuclear ambitions. While agreeing to discuss the matter with Tokyo, it warned that nothing would change fundamentally unless the United States changed its "hostile stance" toward North Korea.

The North's rigid reaction suggests that normalization talks may drag on. Diplomacy may produce positive results down the road, but, for now at least, there seems to be little cause for optimism. Determination and patience, along with increased international cooperation and pressure, may be needed to induce it to change its mind.

Pyongyang's claim that the abduction issue has been essentially resolved is preposterous. It is true, as chief delegate Jong Thae Hwa pointed out, that Mr. Kim Jong Il has acknowledged and apologized for the abductions and has pledged that North Korea will never again commit such inhuman acts. The statement — from the country's supreme leader — carries weight, but the words have yet to be matched by deeds.

During the talks, North Korea accused Japan of breaking its promise to send the five abductees back to Pyongyang. Yet North Korea's demand for their "return" does not make sense because it was North Korea that kidnapped them. Pyongyang has an obligation to return them permanently to Japan, together with their children, with no conditions attached. It also has a duty to provide further information on eight other abductees who it says are dead; their families hope they are alive.

The only agreement on security issues was that the two sides would start a dialogue to address a range of concerns, including the North's missile-development program and use of spy ships. However, the nuclear issue is likely to receive relatively low priority, given Pyongyang's stated position that a final solution depends solely on talks with the U.S.

Nevertheless, if Pyongyang is trying to play the "nuclear card" to get the U.S. to sign a nonaggression pact or recognize its continued rule, it is breaching its own declared commitment to comply with "all related international agreements" on nuclear arms — a commitment spelled out in the Pyongyang Declaration signed at the Sept. 17 Japan-North Korea summit.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has said the U.S. will not resume dialogue unless North Korea abandons its desire to go nuclear. If Pyongyang stays the nuclear course, it will face dire consequences at the very time that it badly needs external assistance. It is likely that the international project to build commercial reactors in North Korea in exchange for a halt to its nuclear weapons program will be canceled, and that the U.S. will stop supplying fuel oil pending reactor startup.

Dealing with a nuclear-capable North Korea requires multilateral diplomacy. At the latest Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Mexico, North Korea was urged to give up efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Russia and China, APEC members with friendly ties to North Korea, can persuade Pyongyang to scrap the program. Japan, for its part, should negotiate patiently in close coordination with the U.S. and South Korea. As leaders of the three nations agreed on the sidelines of the APEC meeting, Tokyo-Pyongyang talks provide an important channel for the isolated communist state to make prompt and visible responses to the demands of the international community.

The Japan Times:
November 1, 2002
(C) All rights reserved

      北朝鮮は拉致被害者5人を24年ぶりに一時帰国させた。しかし日本政府は被害者の永住帰国の決定をし、平壌にいる子供たちの帰国も求めた。

      北朝鮮側は、濃縮ウラン製造計画の詳細情報の開示を拒み、 核開発を中止する約束もしなかった。北朝鮮のかたくなな考えを変えさせるには固い決意と忍耐、国際社会の一層の協力と圧力が必要になる。拉致問題は一応解決したとする言い分は非常識だ。確かに金正日総書記は拉致を認めて謝罪し、二度と同様の非人道的な行いはしないと約束したが、まだそれを行動で示していない。

      北朝鮮は、拉致被害者を平壌に戻すという約束を破ったとして日本を責めた。

      しかし「戻す」といっても、拉致したのは北朝鮮だから理屈が通らない。北朝鮮政府は拉致被害者を家族とともに日本に永住帰国させ、死亡したとされる 8人の被害者に関する詳しい情報を提供する義務がある。

      今回、安全保障面で唯一合意したのは、ミサイル開発、工作船などの問題に関し日朝が対話を始めることだが、恐らく核開発問題の優先順位は低くなる。北朝鮮が、問題解決は米国との協議次第としているためだ。しかし北朝鮮が米国と不可侵条約を締結する交渉の切り札に核を使うなら、日朝首脳会談での平壌宣言に違反することになる。

      北朝鮮が核開発を続けるなら、核開発中止と引き換えに軽水炉を供与する国際協定は撤回され、米国は燃料油の供給をやめるだろう。

      北朝鮮に対応するには多国間の外交努力が欠かせない。日本は米韓と足並みを揃えて交渉にあたるべきだ。日朝間の交渉は、北朝鮮が国際社会の要求に応えるようにするための重要な道なのだ。

The Japan Times Weekly
November 9, 2002
(C) All rights reserved