During his summit meeting with Prime Minister Junichiro
During his summit meeting with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Pyongyang on Tuesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il acknowledged for the first time that Japanese citizens were indeed abducted to North Korea.
His remarks are tantamount to acknowledging that Pyongyang sponsored these crimes, and prove that North Korea was indeed a terrorist state.
On the issue of his country's suspected missile development program, Kim made clear his intention of extending North Korea's missile-testing moratorium beyond 2003. If he sincerely means to do so, this is certainly a step forward.
The big question is whether North Korea will work sincerely to implement accords reached during the summit. Pyongyang has often walked out on Japanese negotiators during diplomatic normalization talks in recent past.
It is essential for the government to stick to its principles concerning its stance toward North Korea. Tokyo should not make any easy concessions to Pyongyang.
It is also crucial for Japan to cooperate with the United States and South Korea as they play their respective roles in dealing with North Korea.
Japan should not rush to improve ties with North Korea before the United States and the South make efforts in the same regard.
-- Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo
;; ANPAk..r.. ~ Controversial bills
After the press community rejected the draft bill on broadcasting, now business circles are coming out against a bill on labor. There is fear these two bills will be the death of the respective communities.
If passed into law, the broadcasting bill will have the power to curtail the freedom of the press at anytime. Deliberation of the bill has been postponed following waves of protest.
The business community is against the labor bill, which they believe will damage the investment climate. Businesspeople say that if passed into law, the labor bill will result in mass layoffs as many businesses will be forced to close down. They also say investors will put their money in other countries.
The bill is said to be unfair to employers. According to the draft bill, strikes will be considered a right of employees, while employers will be obliged to continue paying the salaries of striking workers.
According to the bill, companies will not be allowed to hire new employees to replace striking employees, who will be completely unproductive.
Those are the facts. The two draft bills have received strong opposition, but there is still a strong push to continue the deliberation of these controversial bills.
The bills were probably created for political interests. Groups in the House of Representatives have insisted that the bills be passed into law. The legislators are seeking new constituents to support their parties in the 2004 general election. So, the deliberation of these bills by the House has been spiced up by camouflaged political moves.
-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta
;; ANPAk..r.. ~ Ultimatum on Iraq
In the few days since President Bush in effect demanded that the United Nations issue an ultimatum to Iraq, it has been instructive to observe the alacrity with which almost everybody is falling in behind Washington. The very same statesmen who had prophesied doom are now calling on Saddam Hussein to capitulate before his fate is sealed.
Meanwhile, Saddam himself has been galvanized into preempting a new Security Council resolution. The "unconditional" offer to re-admit weapons inspectors is, almost certainly, a ruse. ... But this offer would never have been made had George W. Bush not been prepared to go to war.
Only once the Bush administration had decided to overthrow Saddam, if necessary alone, could the doubts elsewhere be resolved and a grand alliance put together. Only unilateralism made multilateralism possible.
-- The Daily Telegraph, London