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.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from