By Clint Richards
While talks with Pyongyang struggle, Abe is full steam ahead in his pursuit of a meeting with Park.
Relations between Japan and the Korean Peninsula have improved in recent weeks, particularly with South Korea, even as talks with North Korea over the issue of its abducted citizens have stalled. While the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been keen to rebuild relationships with the region’s other leaders, it appears that the Japanese public is now warming to the idea of improving ties as well. A thaw in tensions with South Korea has been particularly slow since President Park Geun-hye took office in February 2013; however, multiple bilateral meetings through a variety of channels show that while the prospect of bringing the relationship back to where it was before Abe became premier may not be secure, the possibility of a bilateral meeting between the two leaders at the upcoming APEC summit in Beijing is becoming increasingly so.
After a summer of increasing cooperation between Japan and North Korea over the investigation into Japanese citizens abducted during the 1980s and 70s, Pyongyang’s failure to produce an initial report is beginning to sour the goodwill earned after Japan reduced some of its sanctions in early July. After a meeting of officials in the Chinese city of Shenyang on Monday, in which North Korea offered to allow Japanese officials to visit Pyongyang and meet members of the investigative committee, it is unclear how Abe’s government plans to proceed, although sources that spoke with the Jiji Press said it would make a decision by the end of the week. However, the head of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea told the government officials in charge of the abduction issue “Most of the families agreed that it would be ineffective for (the officials) to visit North Korea just to meet members of the special investigation committee.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat