By Clint Richards
With current cooperation coming at such a low cost, negotiating beyond abductees is a logical next step.
The current negotiations between Japan and North Korea in Beijing over the abduction of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 80s appear to have been a success so far. After resuming talks this week, The Japan News reported Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga saying that, due to Pyongyang’s progress, Tokyo will lift some bans on money restrictions and travel, and allow ships from North Korea to enter Japanese ports for humanitarian purposes. This initial success for the negotiations was not unexpected, and simply highlights how isolated the two countries have been from one another. The potential for further cooperation will be what is watched closely, to see whether Japan and North Korea actually intend to move their relations toward a position of détente, or possibly even normalization.
On Tuesday, the delegation from Pyongyang put forward its plan to organize an investigative panel, after which the Japanese side expressed its satisfaction with the panel’s scope and authority. According to a Japanese official in Beijing who spoke with the Nikkei Asian Review, “The special investigative committee will be quite large, and its chair is close to First Secretary Kim Jong Un and is a member of the National Defense Commission, the key government body that has the authority to issue instructions to all other entities.” Japan was also presented with a list containing the names of at least 10 Japanese nationals (written in Korean) believed to be living in North Korea, who are also suspected of having been kidnapped. The list also includes personal histories, which Tokyo plans to compare with its own lists of abductees.
In response to North Korea’s progress, Japan has planned to lift travel restrictions for its citizens in North Korea, and vice versa. North Korea’s ships will only be allowed to enter Japanese ports for humanitarian reasons, so Pyongyang’s Mangyongbong-92 ferry is still restricted. However, Tokyo will remove the requirement for reporting the transport of more than 100,000 yen ($975) between countries in cash, or more than 3 million yen by wire. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet is expected to approve the deal by Friday if the termination of sanctions is settled on Thursday.
Read the full story at The Diplomat