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Japan to lift some sanctions against North Korea after abductions move Japan to lift some sanctions against North Korea after abductions decision
(about 9 hours later)
Japan is to lift some sanctions against North Korea after the regimein Pyongyang agreed to reinvestigate the fates of Japanese nationalsabducted by its agents during the cold war.The move came amid Japanese media reports that some of the abductees,whom the North had previously claimed were dead, are still alive. Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, did not specify which sanctionswould be lifted, but reports said the move could include an end to theban on port calls by North Korean vessels and the entry into Japan ofNorth Korean citizens. Officials in Tokyo have also suggested thatrestrictions on money transfers to the North could be eased and thatNorth Korean ships could resume port calls for “humanitarian”purposes.While the easing of sanctions is unlikely to have much economic impacton the North, it marks a significant step towards improving ties withTokyo amid rising international concern over Pyongyang’s nuclearweapons programme.Abe, whose involvement in the abduction issue stretches back more thana decade, had suggested he would respond positively if North Koreashowed sincerity in carrying out the probe by, for example, appointinginvestigators with the authority to uncover the abductees’whereabouts.The modest thaw in Japan-North Korea ties came as China’s leadershipdemonstrated its displeasure with Pyongyang in the wake of recentmissile and rocket tests.Chinese leader Xi Jinping is to meet his South Korean counterpart,Park Geun-hye, in Seoul on Thursday, breaking with a longstandingtradition among Chinese leaders of visiting North Korea first.Analysts said his two-day summit with Park reflected growing Chineseinterest in forging closer economic ties with the South, but also senta strong message to Pyongyang about its missile tests and pursuit of anuclear deterrent.By lifting sanctions against North Korea, Japan will find itself outof step with the UN, which has imposed a raft of sanctions against theregime since it conducted its first nuclear test in 2006. The UNmeasures include ban on trading arms and conducting further missileand nuclear tests, and a freeze on North Korean assets.A senior Japanese official said US security officials had reassuredhim that Washington understood the reasoning behind Tokyo’s policyshift. "I explained to US officials that Japan is going to liftsanctions that were specially imposed in connection with the abductionissue, and they well understood that," Nobuo Kishi, a senior viceforeign minister, told reporters in Washington.North Korea allowed five abductees and their families to return toJapan in 2002 following a summit in Pyongyang between the countries’then leaders Kim Jong-il and Junichiro Koizumi. The North said thateight other Japanese snatched by communist spies in the 1970s and 80shad either died or had never entered the country – claims that Tokyohas refused to accept.On Thursday, the Nikkei business newspaper said North Korea had givenJapan the names of at least 10 Japanese thought to be living in thecountry, including some that Japan says were abducted.Substantial progress on the abduction issue would boost Abe’s supportratings, which have dropped in the wake of this week’s decision to endJapan’s ban on fighting in conflicts overseas – a shift many voterssee as an abandonment of the country’s postwar pacifism.“The ‘revelation’ that there are more than 10 survivors isencouraging, but the timing seems to divert attention away from Abe'sextremely unpopular coup against Japan's postwar pacifist order,” JeffKingston, director of Asia studies at Temple University in Tokyo, toldReuters. Japan is to lift some sanctions against North Korea after the regime in Pyongyang agreed to reinvestigate the fates of Japanese nationals abducted by its agents during the cold war.The move came amid Japanese media reports that some of the abductees, whom the North had previously claimed were dead, are still alive.
North Korean special forces abducted at least a dozen Japanese nationals during the 1970s and 80s to teach their language and customs to spies.
Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, did not specify which sanctions would be lifted, but reports said the move could include an end to theban on port calls by North Korean vessels and the entry into Japan ofNorth Korean citizens. Officials in Tokyo have also suggested thatrestrictions on money transfers to the North could be eased and thatNorth Korean ships could resume port calls for “humanitarian”purposes.While the easing of sanctions is unlikely to have much economic impacton the North, it marks a significant step towards improving ties withTokyo amid rising international concern over Pyongyang’s nuclearweapons programme.Abe, whose involvement in the abduction issue stretches back more thana decade, had suggested he would respond positively if North Koreashowed sincerity in carrying out the probe by, for example, appointinginvestigators with the authority to uncover the abductees’whereabouts.The modest thaw in Japan-North Korea ties came as China’s leadershipdemonstrated its displeasure with Pyongyang in the wake of recentmissile and rocket tests.Chinese leader Xi Jinping is to meet his South Korean counterpart,Park Geun-hye, in Seoul on Thursday, breaking with a longstandingtradition among Chinese leaders of visiting North Korea first.Analysts said his two-day summit with Park reflected growing Chineseinterest in forging closer economic ties with the South, but also senta strong message to Pyongyang about its missile tests and pursuit of anuclear deterrent.By lifting sanctions against North Korea, Japan will find itself outof step with the UN, which has imposed a raft of sanctions against theregime since it conducted its first nuclear test in 2006. The UNmeasures include ban on trading arms and conducting further missileand nuclear tests, and a freeze on North Korean assets.A senior Japanese official said US security officials had reassuredhim that Washington understood the reasoning behind Tokyo’s policyshift. "I explained to US officials that Japan is going to liftsanctions that were specially imposed in connection with the abductionissue, and they well understood that," Nobuo Kishi, a senior viceforeign minister, told reporters in Washington.North Korea allowed five abductees and their families to return toJapan in 2002 following a summit in Pyongyang between the countries’then leaders Kim Jong-il and Junichiro Koizumi. The North said thateight other Japanese snatched by communist spies in the 1970s and 80shad either died or had never entered the country – claims that Tokyohas refused to accept.On Thursday, the Nikkei business newspaper said North Korea had givenJapan the names of at least 10 Japanese thought to be living in thecountry, including some that Japan says were abducted.Substantial progress on the abduction issue would boost Abe’s supportratings, which have dropped in the wake of this week’s decision to endJapan’s ban on fighting in conflicts overseas – a shift many voterssee as an abandonment of the country’s postwar pacifism.“The ‘revelation’ that there are more than 10 survivors isencouraging, but the timing seems to divert attention away from Abe'sextremely unpopular coup against Japan's postwar pacifist order,” JeffKingston, director of Asia studies at Temple University in Tokyo, toldReuters.