hankyoreh

Japan’s new foreign minister, Nobutaka Machimura, has announced that he is considering humanitarian aid for North Korea, the idea being that the fact that North Korea is suffering from massive storm damage has nothing to do with the issue of abducted Japanese citizens is because it was a natural disaster. Lately Japan has been insisting that it would not participate in aid for the North unless there was progress on the issue of its abducted citizens, maintaining a hard-line approach that was all about sanctions and pressure. The last time Japan sent aid was in August 2004, in the form of food and pharmaceuticals, through an international agency. If Machimura’s comments indicate that there is change in Japan’s stubborn attitude, then it is a welcome development indeed. Helping a neighboring nation in times of difficulty is a matter of course and the right thing to do.

The fact that Japan is announcing its intention to help North Korea, even if only on a limited scale, appears to be the result of having determined that it was going to be hard to find solutions to the Japan-North Korea relationship with its current hard-line approach. Indeed, there has been no small amount of criticism in Japan and abroad of its approach to North Korea, one that gave the abductees such priority. Specifically, the criticism was generally that Japan was becoming the only nation at the six-party talks that was becoming an obstacle to progress because of its excessive obsession with the abduction issue, and also that its hard-line approach was not producing any real results. In Hanoi last March, talks between the two countries about normalizing ties, talks that were part of the “working-level talks” pursuant to the current stage of the six-party process, broke down after a mere three hours of discussion, entirely because of differences on this issue. The next round of normalization talks is set for September 5 in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator, so even if only out of concern for appearances, Japan needed to find a more realistic approach. Japan is also said to be ready to talk about its colonial past. Whatever Japan’s calculations may be, even if this only provides an opportunity for serious talk, instead of the old competitive confrontations, then it is of no small significance.

It remains to be seen, however, whether this move will lead to fundamental change in Japan’s North Korea policy. Machimura is said to be of the position that his country should use dialogue and pressure simultaneously, but it would be hard to say there has been fundamental change in the tone of prime minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet when it comes to Pyongyang. Even if it does give aid this time around, in form it will be in response to a United Nations request and it will go through an international organization. That is surely because Japan wants to go out of its way to emphasize that it is aid given for humanitarian reasons and is something different in character from the energy aid being discussed at the six-party talks. It will be hard for Japan to keep pace with the changing political climate in the region with that kind of noncommittal attitude. One would hope to see Japan change in a way that bears more responsibility for peace in East Asia.