DATE=11/2/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=JAPAN / NORTH KOREA (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-255730
BYLINE=STEVE SHAYMAN
DATELINE=TOKYO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Japan is lifting a ban on charter flights to
North Korea, in the first easing of sanctions imposed
when Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile over
Japanese territory last year. As Steven Shayman
reports from Tokyo, the move comes amid improving ties
between the reclusive North and the United States.
TEXT: Deputy Cabinet Secretary Soichiro Matsutani
says the Japanese government decided to lift the ban
because it believes North Korea is honoring its
missile launch moratorium mediated by the United
States.
The Japanese government imposed sanctions on North
Korea after it fired a ballistic missile that flew
over Japan in August last year. Pyongyang said the
launch was an attempt to orbit a satellite.
In September, North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam
Sun said his country would suspend testing of long-
range ballistic missiles in return for the lifting of
a U-S ban on trade and investment.
Japanese Deputy Cabinet Secretary Matsutani says the
resumption of charter flights is due to Japan's desire
to see further improvement in ties between Pyongyang
and Washington. He says he hopes that would spread to
include a thaw in Tokyo's icy relations with the
North.
Japanese government sources admit there was pressure
by Washington to hasten the removal of sanctions prior
to talks between the United States and North Korea
November 15th in Berlin.
Following the meeting, a senior North Korean official
is expected to visit United States.
Many thorny issues still stand in the way of improved
relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang.
One difficult dispute has been Japanese allegations
that North Korean spies abducted at least 10 Japanese
citizens in the 1970's and 1980's. Some of the
missing people were said to have vanished while
walking alone in coastal areas facing the Sea of
Japan, which lies between Japan and the Korean
peninsula.
North Korea has vigorously denied the kidnapping
allegations, which have stood in the way of official
contacts with Tokyo.
Japan ruled the Korean peninsula as a colony from 1910
to 1945. It established diplomatic relations with
capitalist South Korea in 1965, but has yet to do so
with the North. (SIGNED)
NEB/SGS/GC/RAE
02-Nov-1999 07:57 AM EDT (02-Nov-1999 1257 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
