N. Korea indicates desire for better ties with Japan

Asian Political News, Dec 6, 1999

North Korea's ruling party indicated Wednesday to a delegation of Japanese lawmakers that Pyongyang wishes to see negotiations resume on establishing diplomatic ties with Japan.

Kim Yong Sun, secretary of the Workers Party of Korea's central committee secretariat, said, "The continued abnormal situation will not benefit peace and stability in Northeast Asia and will go against the wishes of the people of both countries. It's really regrettable."

Kim was speaking to the delegation of 16 Japanese lawmakers at a welcome dinner party. The Japanese delegation, composed of lawmakers of both ruling and opposition parties and led by former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, arrived in Pyongyang earlier in the day for a three-day visit.

Kim said, "It is a good thing for the delegation of political parties to visit our country with hopes for improved bilateral relations at a time of concluding the 1990s."

Kim also told the Japanese delegation, "Liquidating unfortunate history and developing good neighborly and friendly relations are desires of the peoples of both countries."

Murayama told Kim, "I came here with a firm intention to create an environment for the two governments to resume dialogue."

"In order to overcome difficulties remaining between the two countries one by one, confidence building is important...I hope (this visit) will be the first step toward building trustful relations," Murayama said.

Delegation sources said the Murayama mission is considering a positive response regarding "liquidation" of the past, presumably meant by the North as compensation by Japan to North Koreans for its 1910-1945 colonial rule.

After arriving in the capital aboard a chartered flight, the Japanese legislators -- 15 drawn from seven ruling and opposition parties plus one independent -- laid flowers at the statue of the late President Kim Il Sung and paid a courtesy call on Kim Yong Sun at the Mansudae assembly hall.

During the courtesy call preceding the dinner, Kim told the mission, "I'm expecting fruitful results (from the mission). Our people also have expectations. We want to have sufficient talks." Murayama told Kim, "I want to get good results through wholehearted discussions...and to create an environment for dialogue between the two governments through party-level contacts."

Murayama, former leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), is carrying a letter from Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. The letter is written in Obuchi's capacity as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and is believed to call for improved relations between Japan and North Korea.

On Thursday, the mission is to hold talks with officials of the Workers Party of Korea, including Kim Yong Sun, with the aim of drawing up a document calling for the two governments to resume normalization talks, which have been suspended since November 1992.

Murayama is expected to avoid going in depth into pending diplomatic issues, such as the alleged abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents and suspended food aid, during talks with North Korean officials. Instead, he is likely to tell the North that these issues should be left to intergovernmental negotiations.

But as the alleged abduction is one of Japan's main concerns, the mission plans to call for an investigation into the whereabouts of missing Japanese by presenting a list of names of those suspected of having been abducted by North Korean agents.

The Japanese government suspects that at least 10 Japanese citizens were abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s. North Korea flatly denies the allegation.

According to delegation sources, the two sides started unofficial negotiations intended to draw up a document but immediately ran into difficulties.

On Friday, the mission is to meet with Kim Yong Nam, chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly and No. 2 in the country's hierarchy, before returning to Japan in the afternoon. The mission is the first of its kind in two years. A delegation of lawmakers from three parties in a non-cabinet alliance visited North Korea in November 1997.

Also, the Murayama mission is the first to the country comprising members of all major political parties. It consists of lawmakers from the ruling camp -- the LDP, the Liberal Party, the New Komeito party and its parliamentary ally, the Reformers Network Party -- as well as the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, the Japanese Communist Party and the SDP.

Four Foreign Ministry officials are accompanying the mission, including Kenichiro Sasae, deputy director general of the Asian Affairs Bureau.

Murayama received an official invitation Nov. 15 from the Workers Party of Korea to visit the country.

The visit was originally planned for April this year, but was postponed a number of times and then indefinitely in June because of what Murayama said was a persistent North Korean demand for food aid. Increased tension between the two nations also contributed to the delay, including the intrusion of what were believed to be North Korean spy ships into Japanese waters in March and the emergence of reports in summer that Pyongyang planned to test-fire a long-range ballistic missile.