No full consensus in DPRK-Japan talks on normalizing ties

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Japan held their third day of talks on the normalization of relations in Beijing Monday, but no full consensus was achieved.

Koichi Haraguchi, Japanese ambassador in charge of the Japan-DPRK normalization talks, told reporters at a Beijing hotel Monday evening that the two sides did not reach a full agreement in the talks, but agreed to continue their work for further accord.

The DPRK side emphasized the importance of resolving the historical issue as early as possible, while the Japanese side held the view that the abduction issue should be resolved first, Haraguchi explained.

He said earlier in the day that the settlement of the historical issue is a matter on which the DPRK has major expectations, but this can only be resolved within the framework of normalizing bilateral diplomatic ties. It would be very difficult to normalize the relationship without a solution to the abduction issue.

DPRK's top negotiator on this issue, Song Il Ho, also ambassador in charge of the DPRK-Japan talks, said after the talks that the Japanese side wanted to combine the historical issue with economic assistance to the DPRK, but the DPRK side thought that this was not enough to resolve the problem.

Song said the settlement of the historical issue is not of a temporary nature and should be handled through a historical and moral point of view.

Monday's discussion mainly covered issues such as economic cooperation, status of ethnic Koreans in Japan and the return of cultural relics.

According to Song, the DPRK demanded that those cultural relics partly destroyed should be recovered and those fully destroyed or lost should be compensated. The Japanese side replied that they preferred to resolve the issue through economic assistance.

Song also noted that both sides had the talks in an honest and open manner. They tried to understand each other's stance and would continue to engage in dialogues.

The ongoing inter-governmental talks were resumed in the Chinese capital on Saturday. The two sides had a previous round of similar talks in Malaysia in 2002.

A three-track format was used this time to cover such topics as abduction issue, normalization of diplomatic ties, and security issue. Each of the three topics will be given one day for discussion.

Kim Chol Ho and Kunio Umeda, chief delegates from the DPRK and Japan to the bilateral panel specializing in the abduction issue, met on Sunday to air their views and stances. The two sides agreed to continue the talks on this issue.

Tadamichi Yamamoto, Japanese ambassador in charge of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, and Jong Thae Yang, deputy chief of the DPRK Foreign Ministry's U.S. affairs department, will meet on Tuesday to discuss the nuclear weapons issue.

The DPRK and Japan have not yet decided whether they will continue the talks when the three panels finish their respective talks.

Prior to the current round, the two countries held a meeting in Beijing on Dec. 24 and Dec. 25 of 2005, during which they agreed to set up three working groups on history, security guarantee and abduction issues to push forward the normalization of diplomatic relationship.

Source: Xinhua