Japan said yesterday it could impose harsher sanctions against North Korea if Pyongyang failed to meet its promise in a long-running row over its abduction of Japanese nationals.
Japan had said that it would lift some of its sanctions against North Korea after Pyongyang resumed talks with Tokyo and agreed to open a new probe to search for Japanese people kidnapped by North Korean spies during the Cold War.
But Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura told the public broadcaster NHK that North Korea had to make clear progress on the issue.
“We just promised to ease sanctions, believing it’s going to be a sincere probe,” he said.
“If we found it not sincere, [sanctions] will revive and may become a harsher one.”
“If they don’t move forward at all, we will take a step backward. Our stance is tongue for tongue and action for action,” Komura said.
Japan said it would lift restrictions on the movement of people between the two countries and end a ban on chartered flights from the impoverished state.
It also said it would allow North Korean ships to dock for humanitarian purposes, although most vessels, including a ferry that was the main link between the two countries, would remain barred.
The plight of the abductees has struck an emotional chord in Japan.
North Korea admitted in 2002 to having kidnapped 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s to train its spies in Japanese language and culture.
It returned five victims and their families, then said the case was closed.
Komura also called on the US and other countries to take concerted steps with Tokyo in an effort to make Pyongyang resolve the abduction row and abandon its nuclear ambitions.
“We cannot solve the issues without a decision by [North Korean leader] Kim Jong-il,” the foreign minister said. “Unfortunately, Japanese pressure is not good enough.”
“In reality, we will be able to make it by relying on the help of the United States, South Korea, China, Russia and other countries,” he said.
Komura will hold talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this week in Kyoto on the sidelines of the G8 foreign ministers’ meeting.
The talks between Japan and North Korea came amid signs of progress in the six-nation disarmament deal after a long standstill.
North Korea, which tested a nuclear bomb in 2006, agreed in February to give up its nuclear programs in exchange for badly-needed fuel aid and diplomatic benefits.
It failed to submit a complete list of its nuclear programs by the end of last year, with the US pressing for Pyongyang to clear up suspicions it sold arms to Syria and ran a secret plutonium program.
But Rice said on Wednesday that North Korea would soon submit its declaration of nuclear programs, indicating Washington would then take action to remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
RSS