NHK and Yonhap News reported that North Korean and Japanese ambassadors are scheduled to meet in Pyongyang on the 28th to begin negotiations and discussions regarding North Korea’s past abductions of Japanese citizens. Dae-Ha Seo, and Japan’s Ministry of Asia Pacific Affairs, Junichi Ihara will be talking in Pyongyang over these atrocious acts and other crucial issues.
The negotiations will be lasting until the 29th, and NHK reported that in addition to Minister Junichi, an additional 12 Japanese representatives and 8 North Koreans will be gathering in the North Korean capital for the talks. Among these 8, NHK also noted that Seong-Nam Kang, the man who was in charge of these kidnappings will also be present. Kang is North Korea’s Minister of National Security.
Japan’s Kyodo Communications reported that there are known to be 12 victims of these North Korean abductions among North Korean citizens. Minister Junichi stated that compensating for these victims for these atrocious acts is the Japan’s highest priority when it comes down to NK-Japan relations. Even North Korean representative Dae-Ha Seo noted that Junichi had made a “right move” in making this visit to Pyongyang to improve diplomatic relations between the two countries.
This the first time a Japanese representative made an official visit to North Korea in 10 years. The last time this happened was in November of 2004. Interestingly however, Yonhap News noted that it was the North Korean government that made the initial proposal to talk.
Earlier in May of this year at a conference between North Korean and Japanese representatives in Stockholm, North Korean ambassadors proposed that they meet again in Japan to discuss the issue of Japanese citizens that are still detained in North Korea. It is believed that the North Korean government had done a survey of the Japanese citizens that are still alive, and have already decided to release all these victims after the specifics were finalized.
Ever since the 1970s, it is believed that North Korean agents and military personnel had infiltrated Japan to kidnap their citizens and brought them back to Pyongyang. It is believed that the main purpose of these acts was to use these hostages to train North Korean spies to speak Japanese so they could enter into Japan possibly for propaganda or terrorist activities. Japan was also known to abduct a number of South Korean citizens for similar purposes and in the late 1970s, captured a U.S. Navy intelligence vessel, the Pueblo.
