North Korea and Japan will hold talks next month but the issue of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s will not be discussed, a high-ranking North Korean official has told Kyodo News Agency
In its Pyongyang datelined report, Kyodo quoted Jong Thae-hwa as saying that the kidnapping issue has been fully settled and the communist state no longer intends to provide any proof or respond to investigation requests.
Foreign Ministry officials were not available for comment Friday, a national holiday in Japan.
Earlier this week, Japan's foreign minister said the two countries will resume bilateral talks soon on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons, missile programs and the kidnapping issue, to restart negotiations stalled for nearly a year.
The last substantial talks between the two sides took place in November last year. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi held a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in May last year in Pyongyang.
The North has admitted to abducting 13 Japanese to train its spies in Japanese language and culture. Pyongyang allowed five to return to Japan in 2002, saying the remaining eight had died.
Tokyo, however, has demanded proof of the deaths, as well as a thorough investigation into claims that other Japanese were also abducted. North Korea has indicated it considers the issue a closed case.
Family members of those abducted urged Japan to be tough in pushing for answers and called for economic sanctions against the communist country if it didn't sufficiently cooperate.
Jong, a former negotiator in talks with Japan, said the outstanding issue between the two countries was not kidnapping, but Japan's failure to fully atone for past atrocities, including forced labor and sex slaves during its harsh colonization of the Korean Peninsula, according to Kyodo. Japan colonized the Koreas from 1910 until the end of World War II.
Jong repeated Pyongyang's demand that Tokyo return what the North says are the remains of Megumi Yokota, the highest profile kidnap victim, according to Kyodo.
North Korea sent the remains to Japan in November last year after admitting to kidnapping her decades ago, but Japan said DNA tests proved it was not Yokota. Pyongyang then accused Tokyo of fabricating the results to disgrace the North and has demanded the return of the remains.
Japan and North Korea committed to press toward establishing diplomatic relations in a joint declaration during an earlier Koizumi-Kim summit in Pyongyang in 2002. Sporadic talks toward normalization have stalled, however, over the abductions issue. The two countries have never had diplomatic relations.
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Packed crowds in India celebrating their cricket team’s victory ended in a deadly stampede on Wednesday, with 11 mainly young fans crushed to death, the local state’s chief minister said. Joyous cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket final on Tuesday night. However, the euphoria of the vast crowds in the southern tech city of Bengaluru ended in disaster, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra calling it “absolutely heartrending.” Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said most of the deceased are young, with 11 dead
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS