Koizumi said to seek 2d Pyeongyang visit
Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is trying to arrange another visit to North Korea in September, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The visit reportedly is aimed at restarting negotiations to bring back Japanese citizens abducted to North Korea over the past decades and resolving the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula.If the visit takes place, it would be the Japanese leader’s second trip to Pyeongyang. It was there last September that the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il admitted to having abducted Japanese civilians.
Nihon Keizai Shimbun said that Mr. Koizumi would coordinate the venture with Washington. Arranging such a trip would be difficult, the newspaper said, because Tokyo has no intention of providing food and economic assistance to the North in return for the trip.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)