 JCP makes representations to the prime minister over Japan-North Korea talks on abductees Japanese Communist Party Executive Committee Chair Shii Kazuo on December 9 presented Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro with a statement requesting the government to demand that North Korea delegate an official who can be responsive to the resolution of the abduction issue to the talks with Japan. The text of the statement is as follows: December 9, 2004 Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro The Japanese government on December 8 confirmed that the results of forensic tissue analysis and DNA tests showed that the ashes which North Korea gave to the Japanese delegation during the third Japan-North Korea working-level talks last month as the remains of Japanese abductee Yokota Megumi are someone else's. North Korea has shown a brazen attitude and irresponsibility, which runs counter to the Japan-North Korea Pyongyang Declaration of September 17, 2002. The Japanese Communist Party has expressed a protest to North Korea for its dishonesty in providing Japan with false "material" regarding human lives. In the third working-level talks, North Korea admitted that the information concerning 10 abductees who are unaccounted for, which was turned over to Japan immediately after Prime Minister Koizumi's September 17, 2002 visit, included a lot of falsehoods. It is outrageous that the ashes which North Korea submitted as the remains of Yokota Megumi, which were thought to be a major part of the new materials, also turned out to be false. What North Korea offered in the past in the name of the remains of Matsuki Kaoru have also been revealed to be someone else's. These facts show that it is very doubtful whether North Korea's negotiators are qualified to participate in talks with Japan. According to the Foreign Ministry's explanation in parliament, Song Il Ho, North Korean Foreign Ministry Asian Affairs Department vice director, in the second working-level talks in September stated that the investigation was in difficulty due to the non cooperation on the part of the special unit that was involved in the abductions. Jin Il Bo, a bureau chief of the People's Security Ministry who represented North Korea in the third working-level talks in November, also stated that they had difficulties in the investigation due to the involvement of the special unit. It is clear that continuing talks with unqualified negotiators will not lead to establishing facts and resolving the question. For the present bilateral talks between Japan and North Korea to play an effective part in establishing the facts of the abductions and resolving the issue, the JCP thinks it essential for North Korea to be represented at the talks by someone who can assume the full responsibility for dealing with the abduction issue. The JCP requests that the government demand the following of North Korea: (1) Appoint a North Korean negotiator who is well versed in the abduction issue and is responsive to the resolution of the issue with due authority. (2) Allow Japanese investigators to carry out activities in North Korea to find the truth, including an extensive investigation of related sites and hearings from people involved in North Korea. Shii Kazuo Executive Committee Chair Japanese Communist Party (end) |