Focus for Japan, South Korea
(From The Japan Times Feb. 14 issue)

日本と韓国の北朝鮮政策課題

Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone met with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and his counterpart Yu Myung-hwan in Seoul on Feb. 11. Mr. Nakasone and Mr. Yu devoted half the meeting to North Korea-related issues, and agreed to push for the North's denuclearization through the framework of the six-party talks involving the United States, China, Japan, the two Koreas and Russia.

Recently, the North has been saber rattling. The North Korean Army said Jan. 17 it would take an "all-out confrontational posture" against the South and wipe out President Lee's government. The North also said Jan. 30 it will terminate all agreements with the South aimed at ending confrontation. It is now reported that the North appears to be preparing to test-launch a long-range ballistic missile. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said North Korea's behavior in the past few weeks is unacceptable to neighboring countries in East Asia.

On the other hand, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official Jan. 24 that Pyongyang is dedicated to making efforts to denuclearize the North and seeks progress in the six-party talks in cooperation with China, the chair of the talks. By using hard and soft tactics, North Korea may want to deal directly with the United States and get it to recognize the North as a nuclear-weapons state. But this would be unacceptable to Japan and South Korea, as well as the United States.

Mr. Nakasone in Seoul mentioned the need for a "comprehensive solution" to the nuclear and missile issues, and the issue of the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea. It is outrageous that despite its promise last summer to reinvestigate the fate of abduction victims, Pyongyang has done nothing.

Ms. Clinton's Asia visit should be used as a chance for the United States, Japan and South Korea to strengthen cooperation in getting the stalled six-party talks moving again for the ultimate purpose of denuclearizing North Korea.

中曽根弘文外相は韓国で李明博大統領、柳明桓外交通商相と会談、柳外相とは北朝鮮非核化を6カ国協議の枠内で進めることで合意した。

北朝鮮は最近、韓国に対し全面対決体勢突入を警告、政治･軍事的対決状態の解決に関する合意事項の無効化を宣言するなどの威嚇を続け、長距離弾道弾ミサイル発射準備説も出ている。

一方で金正日総書記は中国共産党の要人との会談で、北朝鮮は非核化に努め、6カ国協議の進展に向けて中国と協調すると発言。硬軟使い分けは米国との直接対話と核保有国認定につなげる戦略ともとれるが、日韓米には許しがたい。

中曽根外相は韓国で、北朝鮮の核とミサイル、拉致問題を含めた包括的な解決を訴えた。昨夏拉致問題に関する再調査合意以降、北朝鮮がなんの約束も果たしていないのは言語道断だ。

米国務長官のアジア訪問で日韓米の協調が深まり、北朝鮮非核化に向けた6カ国協議が進展することを願う。