DATE=12/21/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=JAPAN / NORTH KOREA (L)
NUMBER=2-257352
BYLINE=STEPHANIE HO
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Japanese and North Korean Red Cross delegations
meeting in Beijing have reached a deal on humanitarian
issues. V-O-A's Stephanie Ho reports this clears the way
for government officials from both countries to begin talks
on possible normalization of relations.
TEXT: The head of the Japanese Red Cross delegation,
Tadateru Konoe, was on his way to the airport to catch a
plane back to Tokyo Tuesday. But he was called back at the
last minute for what turned out to be a successful last-
ditch round of talks.
After a hastily-arranged meeting between the North Korean
and Japanese Red Cross delegations, both sides announced a
humanitarian agreement that covers four major issues.
The Japanese Red Cross agreed to resume food aid shipments
to impoverished North Korea, which has been suffering from a
severe famine. These shipments were suspended after North
Korea test-fired a missile that flew over Japan in August
1998.
A Japanese official says his country's Red Cross will
propose that the government provide food aid to North Korea
at the earliest possible date. But he adds he does not know
when the shipment will be made or how large it will be.
One controversial issue covered by the deal is Japanese
allegations that North Korean spies kidnapped Japanese
citizens. The Japanese official says the North Korean Red
Cross agreed to work with relevant agencies to investigate
these accusations. He says the deal does not specify the
number of cases, but that the investigation will be based on
claims from the Japanese side.
Disagreement over the issue caused normalization talks
between Pyongyang and Tokyo to break down in late 1992 -
just a little more than a year after they had begun.
In return, though, the Japanese Red Cross has agreed to look
into the cases of North Koreans who have been missing since
World War Two.
The fourth provision involves the resumption of visits back
to Japan by Japanese wives of North Koreans.
The successful conclusion of the Red Cross meeting paves the
way for North Korean and Japanese Foreign Ministry officials
to restart talks on the possibility of normalizing
relations. The two-day meeting was supposed to be finished
Tuesday, but snags in the Red Cross meetings delayed it by
one day. (signed)
NEB/HO/FC
21-Dec-1999 04:39 AM EDT (21-Dec-1999 0939 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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