Government officials from North Korea and Japan have wrapped up their director-level preliminary talks in Beijing and agreed to hold the main talks at the director-general level soon. On August 31st, the third day of the talks, the North Korean delegation led by Foreign Ministry Japan Division Director Yu Seong-il and the Japanese delegation headed by Foreign Ministry Northeast Asia Division Director Keiichi Ono agreed to discuss a wide range of mutual concerns in the near future. Initially, the two sides were to hold the talks on August 29th and 30th, with the Japanese negotiators planning to return home the afternoon of August 30th. But both sides had high expectations for the result of the talks, extending the meeting for another day. Professor Shin Jeong-hwa of the International Relations Department at Dongseo University takes note that Pyongyang and Tokyo held their first governmental-level talks in four years.

North Korea and Japan have resumed their authorities-level talks, which have been suspended since August 2008 when they discussed the issue of Japanese nationals kidnapped by North Korea. Japan was tougher than any other country in imposing economic sanctions against North Korea when Pyongyang went ahead with nuclear or missile tests. Moreover, Tokyo has made it clear that it has no intention of improving ties with North Korea unless the kidnapping issue is resolved completely. Japan has remained firm in its position that it will address this issue by linking it with North Korea’s nuclear and missile problems in cooperation with South Korea and the U.S. But the latest North Korea-Japan talks, the first of their kind in four years, indicate that the Japanese government has been somewhat flexible and feels the need for dialogue with North Korea. The talks also show that Pyongyang is attempting to improve relations with foreign countries after the new Kim Jong-un regime emerged.

North Korea and Japan agreed to reinvestigate the issue of Japanese abductees during their working-level talks in August 2008. However, North Korea notified Tokyo that it would delay the reinvestigation, citing the resignation of then-president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party Yasuo Fukuda and the leadership transition to the Democratic Party in Japan. Bilateral negotiations were severed afterwards. So, why did the two sides agree to hold their first governmental-level talks in four years?

Japan has insisted on a complete solution of the kidnapping issue since the first North Korea-Japan summit in 2002, while taking a tough stance against the North. But Japan’s hard-line policy hasn’t been effective at all in changing North Korea’s position on the abduction issue. With new leader Kim Jong-un taking power in North Korea, Japan now hopes to maintain its own dialogue channel with Pyongyang, separate from South Korea and the U.S., and to expand its influence on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea, for its part, wants to improve its image inside and outside the nation and attract foreign capital, possibly from Japan, in order to succeed in its economic reform measures that the nation announced on June 28th. It also seems that North Korea believes this is a chance to improve relations with Japan.

Attention now swings to higher-level, follow-up talks between North Korea and Japan. Experts predict that the future talks may take place on September 17th, the 10th anniversary of the Pyongyang Declaration, which was signed between then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il at the first North Korea-Japan summit in 2002. Attention also turns to what the two sides will discuss in the prospective talks.

The two sides may agree on several key issues. First, they are expected to discuss recovering the remains of Japanese people who died in North Korea during World War Two and allowing the Japanese families of the deceased to visit the tombs in the North. Secondly, the two countries may touch on the issue of returning Japanese wives in the North to their home country. It is said that about 1,800 Japanese wives came to North Korea between 1959 and 1984, following their husbands who were ethnic Koreans living in Japan. In fact, North Korea has shown a forward-looking attitude toward sending them back home on humanitarian grounds, with some of the Japanese wives visiting their homeland in several rounds in the early 1990s. Thirdly, the two countries may discuss the repatriation of hijackers of a Japanese airliner, Yodo. The so-called “Yodo-go hijacking” occurred in the early 1970s. North Korea is willing to return the hijackers as long as Japan wants, and has already sent some of them back to Japan. But the two sides are showing differing views on some matters. Japan is expected to continue bringing up the issue of missing people who had possibly been kidnapped by North Korea, while the North will likely stress its position that Japan must show it is making a clean break with the past. Also, if Japan raises the issue of North Korea’s nuclear and missile development, the North won’t accept Japan’s argument easily.

Obviously, the biggest bone of contention is the kidnapping issue. According to Japanese media, including the Yomiuri Shinbun newspaper, North Korea accepted Japan’s proposal to include the abduction issue in the agenda items. Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Osamu Fujimura also says that Japan fully explained the issue to North Korea, and the North completely understood it. If the kidnapping issue is included in the negotiation topics, as Japanese media claimed, North Korea is believed to have made a big concession. Professor Shin explains why.

Japanese nationals were kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s. During the first North Korea-Japan summit in 2002, then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il admitted that his nation had kidnapped Japanese people, apologized for that and promised not to do things like that again. North Korea then returned five abductees living in the North to Japan. In doing so, Pyongyang claims that the issue was closed. However, Japan insists on the return of all kidnapped victims in the North, on the assumption that all of them remain alive. Japan also argues that the kidnapping issue should be investigated. Mainly due to the differing views between the two countries, their relations have been stalled since 2002.

Professor Shin says it’s hard to predict how flexible North Korea will be in addressing the abduction issue. North Korea claims that the issue has already been settled, so it’s uncertain whether the two sides will make progress in this matter even if Japan includes it in the agenda.

Some speculate that a considerable part of Japan’s requirements have been met. However, North Korea will find it hard to accept Japan’s position easily, as seen in the fact that this sensitive issue has prevented the two countries from developing their relations for the last ten years. Former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il said that the issue was resolved, and this is North Korea’s official position. It will be hard for the current Kim Jong-un regime to deny it. For that reason, I think Japan also needs to make some concession. That is, Tokyo could soften its previous view on a “complete” solution of the kidnapping issue. If North Korea shows sincerity when investigating a list of particular Japanese people who went missing, the two sides could wrap up the negotiations on the abduction issue and start the process of normalizing bilateral relations. To this end, it’s also necessary for Japan to show a flexible attitude.

Expectations are running high for the future talks between North Korea and Japan. We’ll be watching whether the two countries will be able to find common ground on key issues and take a step forward to a better relationship.


[Interview] Concert Designed to Help N. Korean Teenage Defectors In the afternoon of August 24th, the powerful sound of the National Military Symphony Orchestra fills the AramNuri Art Center in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province. Despite the hot weather, the music hall was full of audience members hoping to watch the “2012 Beautiful Dream Concert,” which was designed to raise funds to assist teenage defectors from North Korea. Planned by the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, the concert is held in August every year with the purpose of giving courage to the North Korean teenagers and helping the general public have a correct understanding of the young defectors. Here’s the group’s assistant administrator Seo Jin-seon.

The concert, now in its sixth year, is organized by the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, Korea University, Ewha Womans University and a charity organization called “Beautiful Mind.” The purpose is to help citizens adopt a more accurate view of North Korean teenagers and raise funds to support them. Our group is helping out the teenage defectors through various programs.

The collected funds will be used for teenagers from the North, who account for 39 percent of the 20-thousand North Korean defectors who have come to South Korea. Having defected to South Korea all alone, many of the teenagers have difficulty in resettling in South Korean society and adjusting to the school culture here. To share their difficulties, the event featured a video telling the story of teenage defectors.

Two girl students appear in the video. They lived in China for about eight years and have a terrible experience of being repatriated to North Korea. They are older than their peers, have a small body and speak with North Korean accents. For that reason, they find it hard to adapt to school life here. As decent citizens of a democratic society, North Korean teenage defectors will definitely play a role in promoting reconciliation and cooperation between South and North Korea after unification. They are very important, aren’t they? It’s crucial to support them.

The annual concert was joined by a host of musicians to deliver a hopeful message to the young North Korean students. Among others, Park Seong-jin, a North Korean defector and player of the sohaegeum, attracted special attention. A sohaegeum is a modernized fiddle with four strings.

I participated in a charity concert for North Korean teenagers for the first time in 2008. I was deeply impressed. So many people came to the concert to make contributions so the teenagers could cherish their dreams freely. Being a North Korean defector and musician myself, I hoped to present a performance as a way of joining the event. As a defector who came to South Korea earlier, I hope the young students will find consolation in my music, though only in a small way.

As a promising musician, Park attended the prestigious Pyongyang Art School in North Korea. Since he arrived in South Korea in 2006, he has engaged in various music activities. He is also taking the lead in carrying out support programs for North Korean newcomers. Other North Korean performers who presented a wonderful performance included accordion player Im Yu-gyeong, who was introduced in foreign media outlets such as CNN and BBC, and singer Kim Young-ok, a former member of a local art group in North Hamgyeong Province in North Korea. Their performances amazed the audiences, of course, and reminded them once again of the reality their divided peninsula faces.

…I was impressed by accordion player Im. It felt like South and North Korea mingled and became one through the music. It was really touching.

…I’ve realized that the situation in North Korea is far worse than I thought. I believe we should give help to North Korea, even in a small way. I hope the two Koreas will help each other and become one.

The beautiful tunes resounded through the concert hall, bringing together the North Korean teenagers and South Korean audiences as one. We shouldn’t forget that the concert was more than just a fund-raising event but a meaningful opportunity to understand newcomers from the North and come closer to one another, advancing Korea’s unification in mind.