Japan Pins Hopes on Inter-Korean Summit

Tokyo, Aug. 8 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government hopes that a coming summit between North and South Korea will help facilitate Pyongyang’s moves toward its nuclear disarmament.

The two Koreas said Wednesday that South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun will visit North Korea’s capital Pyongyang for three days from Aug. 28 to hold talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. The inter-Korean summit will be the first since June 2000, when then South Korean President Kim Dae Jung met with Kim Jong Il.

Commenting on the announcement at a news conference here Wednesday morning, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said Tokyo hopes that North and South Korea will continue dialogue and that tensions on the Korean Peninsula will be eased. Japan will be closely watching the Roh-Kim summit, he added.

Separately, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters that he hopes the North-South summit will lead to an easing of the tensions on the peninsula.

Meanwhile, he indicated Japan will request that South Korea urge Pyongyang at the bilateral summit to solve the issue of its past abduction of Japanese citizens. The issue is of great significance to Japan, Abe said.

Japan has continued trying to resolve the abduction issue by taking a hard-line stance against Pyongyang together with South Korea and the United States.

But concern is now growing that the abduction issue could be left behind as moves for reconciliation between the two Koreas may accelerate in line with the bilateral summit.

One government source said that the summit may focus too much on economic assistance from Seoul to Pyongyang.

Koichi Kato, former secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said that Japan now faces the greater risk of being isolated in the six-party talks on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear programs. The six-party forum involves Japan, North and South Korea, the United States, China and Russia.END

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