A step forward toward normalization talks and peace in Northeast Asia: JCP on Koizumi's North Korea visit

Japanese Communist Party representative Kokuta Keiji in the Lower House Plenary Session on May 25 stated his view on Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'Ichiro's North Korea visit. Excerpts of Kokuta's statement are as follows:

Normalization talks

The JCP has called for three positions to be maintained to comprehensively proceed with normalization talks with North Korea.

First, a military clash on the Korean Peninsula should be avoided by all means, and all issues should be resolved peacefully through diplomacy.

Second, the abduction of Japanese nationals is an international crime against the human rights and safety of the Japanese people. The JCP has been firmly demanding that this issue be unraveled fully and that the abductees and their family members be allowed to return to Japan.

Third, the task is to establish Japan-North Korea diplomatic relations. It calls for Japan to settle the accounts of its prewar colonial rule over Korea, a major historical obligation postwar Japan owes to the people of Korea.

We have evaluated the Japan-North Korea Pyongyang Declaration of September 2002 as an important step.

We also recognize that the latest Koizumi-Kim talks reconfirmed the Japan-North Korea Pyongyang Declaration as the basis for Japan-North Korea relations, and that they reached some agreement on the issues of the abduction of Japanese nationals, nuclear weapon and missile programs, and humanitarian assistance. They also confirmed their willingness to make progress toward normalization talks, and we welcome this outcome.

Probes into still missing persons

The JCP is glad about the return to Japan of the family members of the Chimuras and the Hasuikes, and hopes for reliable arrangements to be made for the Sogas.

Concerning North Korea's promise to start again from scratch investigations of still missing people, we call on the government to ensure that necessary arrangements and efforts are made to achieve concrete results.

Six-party talks

Resolution of the nuclear weapons issue on the Korean Peninsula has a keen and serious bearing on Japan and on peace in Northeast Asia.

Prime Minister Koizumi urged North Korea's National Defense Committee Chair Kim Jong Il to weigh the vast difference between what North Korea may get from completely giving up nuclear weapons and its possession of nuclear weapons. At a news conference, Mr. Koizumi said that his message was embraced to a great extent. This is an important point.

An agreement was reached between the leaders of Japan and North Korea to make further efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution to the issue of nuclear weapons. Their task now is to do more to fulfill their duty to bring success to the six-party talks.

The core of the North Korea question is in resolving the pending issues one by one along with the nuclear issue to be dealt with at the six-party talks with a view to normalizing relations between Japan and North Korea based on the Japan-North Korea Pyongyang Declaration.

We think that this will be a milestone in the move toward peace and security for Japan and Northeast Asia.

These goals are similar to those sought by the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. If a similar agreement is reached in Northeast Asia, it will develop into a greater current for peace in Asia as a whole. (end)