FOCUS: N. Korea steps up tactic to isolate Japan in 6-way process

BEIJING, March 20 Kyodo

Now that North Korea has settled its score with the United States on a dispute over its frozen funds at a Macao bank, a longstanding row between Japan and North Korea looks to be the remaining bilateral issue in the six-party process as the North tries to isolate Japan and Tokyo fends off such a ploy.

Prospects remain dim for a resolution of thorny issues between the two Northeast Asian neighbors, especially Japan's key concern -- North Korea's past abductions of Japanese nationals -- as the North shows no signs of compromising on its stance.

North Korea lost no chance to criticize Japan for its refusal to take part in economic and energy aid to North Korea in line with a Feb. 13 deal in which the North agreed to take initial steps toward abandoning its nuclear programs in exchange for the aid.

North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan was quoted as saying in his keynote speech at the onset of the six-party talks Monday that Japan may disqualify itself from the talks if it fails to clear doubts over whether it will fulfill its obligations under the Feb. 13 six-party agreement.

Japan, which says it will not provide aid without progress on the abduction issue, remained unfazed by North Korea's challenge as its chief six-party negotiator, Kenichiro Sasae, brushed off Kim's remark as ''completely irrelevant'' and ''not worthy of any comment.''

Asked if he thinks North Korea will move to carry out its Feb. 13 obligations now that a U.S.-North Korea deal has been reached, Sasae spoke with unusual bluntness.

''That should be the case as this is what common sense dictates but there is a world that exists in which (our) common sense is not (their) common sense,'' Sasae told reporters at his hotel in Beijing Tuesday morning.

''It's difficult to tell until after we carry out (talks) today,'' Sasae, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, said, referring to North Korea's unpredictable and erratic behavior.

Japan, which remains in a bitter dispute with North Korea over Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s, has said other negotiators, excluding Kim, support and understand its position on energy aid and the abduction issue, a Japanese official said.

Alexander Losyukov, Russian deputy foreign minister, said there is ''need to thoroughly discuss'' issues of even one country. Meanwhile, six-party host China offered to cooperate in resolving Japan's issues with North Korea while South Korea stressed the importance of continued dialogue, the official said on condition of anonymity.

Concerns persist that only a working group aimed at normalizing bilateral ties between Japan and North Korea -- which ended without progress on the abduction issue -- will be left and that bilateral issues may get in the way of the entire six-party process.

At one point, North Korea boycotted the six-party talks over Pyongyang's financial dispute with the United States, although the issue was totally unrelated to the six-party talks.

Noriyuki Shikata, a Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman, disputes that North Korea's tactic of isolating Japan is successful given that the working group on U.S.-North Korea ties is making headway and that the other panels except that of Japan-North Korea are seeing results.

''North Korea is the one being isolated,'' Shikata said, noting that criticisms from the United States and other nations were directed not at Japan, but at North Korea's attitude.

U.S. chief negotiator Christopher Hill also dismissed concerns over North Korea's tactic to isolate Japan, telling reporters Tuesday morning, ''I don't see North Korea driving any wedges between us and Japan.''

Sasae also looked unperturbed when he touched on the matter before the six-party talks began Monday, stressing negotiations are at the starting point of a marathon race.

The bilateral working group between Japan and North Korea is one of the five panels created under the six-way framework to move the entire denuclearization process forward.

Hill said he feels ''there could have been more done'' and urged North Korea to ''pick up the pace'' in the working group with Japan in pursuit of a broader goal for Northeast Asian security.

''We need to get on with the task of building a better neighborhood in Northeast Asia. An element of that neighborhood would be for the North Koreans to reach out, figure out how to address these Japanese issues through the process of dialogue,'' said Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.

But the road ahead seems unclear as North Korea continues to lash out at Japan's insistence on raising the abduction issue, as the North says it has done all it can and considers the matter closed.

The abduction issue, a highly emotional topic in Japan and a priority for the Japanese government, is the sticking point that prevents Tokyo and Pyongyang from normalizing diplomatic ties.