Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=04/03/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=JAPAN/NOKOR TALKS (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-314729

BYLINE=STEVE HERMAN

DATELINE=TOKYO

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Two Japanese politicians are being criticized at home for going to China for an unauthorized meeting with North Korean officials. Steve Herman reports from Tokyo, the incident came amid Japanese frustration over a lack of movement on the issue of North Korea's past abductions of Japanese citizens.

TEXT: The unsanctioned two-day trip has already cost one of the politicians his government post. Katsuei Hirasawa has resigned as parliamentary secretary to the Public Management Ministry.

Public Management Minister Taro Aso, Mr. Hirasawa's boss, said he was not informed of the trip in advance.

/// ASO ACT, IN JAPANESE, EST. AND FADE ///

Mr. Aso says Mr. Hirasawa violated a government rule against leaving Japan, without telling his superior.

The Cabinet and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi quickly accepted Mr. Hirasawa's resignation, but he will retain his seat in Parliament.

Mr. Hirasawa went to Dalian, China, earlier this week with Taku Yamasaki, a long-time ally of Prime Minister Koizumi, to meet North Korean officials. They later said they wanted to restart talks on North Korea's abduction of Japanese citizens during the Cold War.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il admitted in late 2002 for the first time that such abductions had taken place, and what he said were the only five surviving abductees were allowed to return to Japan.

However, North Korea refused to allow their families still living in that country to join them in Japan. And families of other abductees immediately demanded more details on the deaths of their missing relatives.

But despite attempts by Japan to move the dialogue forward, little has been accomplished since then.

Mr. Yamasaki, a former vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party, says he and Mr. Hirasawa had several meetings with two North Korean officials on Thursday and Friday in Dalian. They are Jong Thae Hwa, North Korea's top negotiator for normalization of ties with Japan, and Song Il Ho, a Foreign Ministry senior official.

News of the discussions brought immediate criticism from the governing coalition and opposition parties when it emerged on Friday. One of the Japanese parliament's key power brokers, Mikio Aoki, says the unauthorized discussions could damage the framework for dialogue between Japanese and North Korean officials.

/// OPT /// An angry Mr. Koizumi said he, too, only learned of the trip after the fact.

/// KOIZUMI ACT, IN JAPANESE, EST. & FADE ///

Mr. Koizumi says government-to-government talks should be the only channel for negotiations with North Korea. /// END OPT ///

But the two politicians told reporters on their return that they expect that Japan and North Korea will soon resume bilateral talks, and that the highly emotional issue of the abductions will be on the agenda.

Japan and North Korea have never had full diplomatic ties. After a 16-month hiatus, they did hold discussions in Beijing in February on the sidelines of six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons development - but a next round of bilateral meetings has yet to be scheduled. (SIGNED)

NEB/HK/SH/BK/TW