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TOKYO - On Sept. 5, North Korea and Japan will meet in Mongolia to discuss ways of normalizing their diplomatic relations. Ahead of the two-day meeting, both sides are witnessing a somewhat different atmosphere from the negotiations in March, which ended after just three hours due to a sea of difference on the issue of abducted Japanese in the North.

Tokyo’s Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura recently added to the thaw by saying that he is considering sending aid provisions to the flood-inflicted North Korean people. And both sides have agreed to first discuss the colonization era, a sticking point upon which the North has insisted placing top priority. Aiming to resolve the abduction issue, Japan might be under pressure to accept Pyongyang’s demands at a time when the six-party talks are making some headway in resolving the communist country’s nuclear issue.

Many observers in South Korea and the United States are expecting that the Pyongyang-Tokyo meeting will help to normalize bilateral ties. Christopher Hill, the United States’ top nuclear envoy, urged his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-gwan to work further on improving relations with Japan, but echoed the general air of optimism. Hill also said that there is reason to anticipate the success of the talks, which spurred speculation that he might have heard something from Kim, according to The Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese daily.

Seoul’s Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said on Sept. 3, “The North and the U.S. earnestly discussed normalization of bilateral relations in Geneva. As such, Pyongyang and Tokyo might do the same at their upcoming meeting.”

However, some diplomatic sources in Japan have urged North Korea to provide its own “card” in return for the Tokyo government’s about-face on the abduction issue. Though the North gives credit to Japan’s promise to resolve issues related to the colonization era, no other signs of a marked change in Pyongyang’s attitude have been detected, they say.

South Korean officials also remain cautious against any easy resolution of the issues at the meeting in Mongolia. “We hope that everything will be alright but still it is difficult to predict the future.”

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