hankyoreh

TOKYO - Song Il-ho, North Korea’s chief negotiator to bilateral talks with Japan, and his Japanese counterpart, Sigeo Yamada, are to meet secretly in Shenyang, China, to hammer out the details of a resumption of working-level talks that could be held sometime this year to normalize relations between the two countries, according to reports from Japanese media outlets on October 14.

Japan is expected to focus on winning concessions from North Korea regarding Japanese citizens who, it claims, were abducted by the communist nation. At present, Tokyo is likely to urge that Pyongyang participate in the negotiations by offering humanitarian assistance toward the North’s efforts to restore the country following this summer’s flooding, which damaged roads and infrastructure, destroyed crops and cost lives.

In connection with the abductee issue, Japan has been urging North Korea to return all of those who were kidnapped, to investigate the truth and to punish those in charge of the matter, while North Korea has maintained the position that the matter between the two sides has already been settled.

Song, speaking to reporters of the Kyodo News Agency who recently visited Pyongyang, said that Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is putting heavy emphasis on dialogue over the pressure on North Korea. At the inter-Korean summit, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s behavior seemed to show that he will be watching Japan’s counter moves as well.