Japan Press Weekly

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2008 June 25 - July 1 [NORTH KOREA]

Step up diplomacy to achieve denuclearization of North Korea

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

North Korea submitted a declaration of its nuclear program to the Chinese, host of the Six-Party Talks. The document contains information regarding North Korea’s nuclear materials and facilities as well as its nuclear program. Following the North Korean move, the United States is set to remove North Korea from the U.S. list of nations sponsoring terrorism and lift trade sanctions against the North under the Trading With the Enemy Act.

Under the agreement reached at the Six Party Talks aimed at denuclearizing North Korea, North Korea disabled its nuclear facility in Yongbyon as the first phase. The submission of the declaration is the “second phase”. The next round of the Six-Party Talks will be held to confirm the completion of the second phase and set concrete measures for a final phase in which North Korea will “abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs” as agreed in the Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks issued in September 2005.

Stick to ‘action for action’ principle

Progress is said to have been made by initiatives taken by the U.S. and North Korea after direct negotiations. On June 18, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, “Diplomacy means structuring a set of incentives and disincentives,” emphasizing the “promise for promise, action for action” principle.

The U.S. has recently put emphasis on direct negotiations with North Korea, unlike in the past when it stubbornly refused to have such talks. A major change in the world situation lies behind the U.S. move. The Iraq war has come to a deadlock, the U.S. preemptive war strategy has failed, and the U.S. has deepened its isolation from the rest of the world.

The 2005 Joint Declaration of the Six-Party Talks stated the need to make “joint efforts for lasting peace and stability in Northeast Asia.” The Six-Party Talks also calls for a “Northeast Asia Peace and Security Mechanism.” The nations involved in this effort are called upon to make diplomatic efforts based on the Joint Declaration for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of a framework for peace.

Comprehensively tackle Japan-DPRK issues

The abduction of Japanese citizens is a major issue lying between Japan and North Korea. The Japanese Communist Party considers it important for the two countries to stick to the principles of the Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration, issued in September 2002, and comprehensively settle a number of issues between them, including the development of nuclear weapons and missiles, the abductions, and compensation for the wartime past. In that process, a settlement of one issue will promote, not obstruct, the settlement of other issues.

The Japanese government’s active role in the effort to solve the nuclear issue will help to enhance international understanding and support for the settlement of the abduction issue.