Tokyo said to offer aid to North for past wrongs

Home > National > Politics

print dictionary print

Tokyo said to offer aid to North for past wrongs

TOKYO -- Japan wants to compensate North Korea for its military aggression before World War II in the form of economic assistance, a Japanese daily reported Sunday.

According to the daily, Yomiuri Shimbun, Hitoshi Tanaka, head of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, presented the proposal to his North Korean counterpart Saturday at working-level talks in Beijing ahead of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's planned one-day visit to North Korea on Sept. 17. A similar pact was reached by South Korea and Japan when they normalized relations in 1965. Japan agreed to provide the South $500 million in economic aid for its colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

According to the daily, Mr. Tanaka told North Korean officials that North Korea's alleged abduction of at least 11 Japanese citizens must be resolved before diplomatic ties are established.

During the Beijing talks, Japanese and North Korean officials discussed security issues, including the international inspection of North Korea's nuclear facilities and its missile program. The talks also reportedly touched on a group of Japanese, known as members of the Red Army, who have been living in Pyeongyang since 1970 when they hijacked a plane to North Korea.

Japanese media reported that South Korea's president, Kim Dae-jung, worked behind the scenes to help arrange a summit between Mr. Koizumi and North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il.

The Mainichi Shimbun reported Sunday that President Kim encouraged Mr. Koizumi during his visit to Seoul in March to hold talks with the North Korean leader.

The Asahi Shimbun reported that an adviser to President Kim, Lim Dong Won, briefed the North Korean leader during a visit to Pyeongyang in April on a Seoul proposal for resolving issues between North Korea and Japan.

Media reports said the Japanese government will dispatch 14 foreign ministry and defense agency officials to Pyeongyang on Tuesday and open a liaison office there. Officials from South Korea, the United States and Japan are scheduled to meet Friday and Saturday on policies related to the planned Japan-North Korea summit.

by Oh Day-young

Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)