The leaders of Japan and North Korea, countries with long-standing, unresolved and intractable issues, have not met for 20 years. This diplomatic inertia must not continue.
Both sides should revitalize their efforts to resume dialogue for the sake of peace and stability in East Asia.
Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi last visited North Korea in 2004 and met with the secluded country’s supreme leader, Kim Jong Il. It was Koizumi’s second and final trip to Pyongyang.
Since then, however, no summit between Japanese and North Korean leaders has materialized, and the diplomatic rupture between the two countries, which once aimed to normalize diplomatic relations with the 2002 Pyongyang Declaration signed by Koizumi and Kim, has only deepened.
The blame for this corrosive stalemate lies with North Korea, which has kept ramping up its nuclear and missile development and not responded sincerely to the issue of its abductions of Japanese citizens decades ago.
The families of the abduction victims are getting old. Only two parents of victims who have not yet returned home are still alive.
We hope productive and tactful efforts on both sides will lead to a diplomatic breakthrough that opens the door to meaningful dialogue as soon as possible.
Last year, North Korea agreed to hold secret talks with Japan in Southeast Asia. In response to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s remarks suggesting his willingness to meet with Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong Il’s son and successor, Pyongyang issued a statement that could be interpreted to reflect a positive stance toward the idea, saying there was no reason for North Korea and Japan not to meet.
However, North Korea takes the position that the abduction issue has already been “settled,” and once it saw that Japan will not accept this stance, it shifted to a posture of refusing all contact.
North Korea’s flip-flop strategy was apparently intended to shake Japan and drive a wedge between Tokyo, Washington and Seoul in their united front against North Korea, but this is a serious miscalculation.
Any negotiations between Japan and North Korea should be intended to comprehensively discuss a range of issues and concerns, such as North Korea’s past abductions of Japanese nationals and its unlawful nuclear and missile programs. There can be no official bilateral talks that exclude the abduction issue.
In recent years, North Korea has deepened its relationship with Russia. With the backing of both China and Russia, some pundits say, North Korea does not see merit in seeking talks with Japan by making concessions to Tokyo.
However, the Pyongyang Declaration says that Japan and North Korea will settle issues resulting from their unfortunate past and Japan will provide economic assistance after they normalized their bilateral ties.
North Korea will receive large long-term benefits if it engages in sincere discussions and reaches an agreement to normalize its relationship with Japan.
The Japanese government, for its part, should also review and revise its approach to dealing with North Korea, try harder to discern Pyongyang’s real motives and intentions and explore avenues for dialogue. It is already clear that Tokyo’s past strategy to tackle the diplomatic challenge solely through pressure on the hermit kingdom will not work.
Breaking the stalemate requires not just cooperation with the United States and South Korea but also astute diplomatic moves to win the help of China and Russia, which exert influence over North Korea.
Depending on the outcome of the U.S. presidential election in November, North Korea may make new unexpected moves. Japan needs to make preparations to be able to respond to all conceivable scenarios.
If the Kishida administration, which is struggling with dismal public support, has any intention of leveraging the North Korean issue for political gain and revitalizing its momentum, Pyongyang will only take advantage of its weak position.
We call on the Japanese government to remain committed to steadfast diplomacy that returns to the spirit of the Pyongyang Declaration.
--The Asahi Shimbun, May 24
EDITORIAL: Reviving spirit of Japan-N. Korea declaration only way forward
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24.05.2024
The leaders of Japan and North Korea, countries with long-standing, unresolved and intractable issues, have not met for 20 years. This diplomatic inertia must not continue.
Both sides should revitalize their efforts to resume dialogue for the sake of peace and stability in East Asia.
Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi last visited North Korea in 2004 and met with the secluded country’s supreme leader, Kim Jong Il. It was Koizumi’s second and final trip to Pyongyang.
Since then, however, no summit between Japanese and North Korean leaders has materialized, and the diplomatic rupture between the two countries, which once aimed to normalize diplomatic relations with the 2002 Pyongyang Declaration signed by Koizumi and Kim, has only deepened.
The blame for this corrosive stalemate lies with North Korea, which has kept ramping up its nuclear and missile development and not responded sincerely to the issue of its abductions of Japanese citizens decades ago.
The families of the abduction victims are getting........
© The Asahi Shimbun
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