Little expected from Japan-N. Korea meet

By Shigemi Sato

TOKYO (AFP): There is little hope of any big breakthrough when Japan and North Korea's foreign ministers meet for the first time this month, analysts here said.

But the encounter, the highest-ranking yet between the Asian foes, may prove to be an important symbolic step on the grinding path towards opening diplomatic relations, they said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun are expected to talk for about 20 minutes on July 26 on the eve of a regional meeting in Bangkok, officials here said.

The landmark meeting comes after an unprecedented summit last month between North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-il and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.

It was announced just three days ahead of a Group of Eight summit in the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, which draws leaders including U.S. President Bill Clinton.

"North Korea apparently believes it has scored a point in the inter-Korean summit and it may want to explore how much the feat has influenced Japan's stance," said National Institute for Defense Studies professor Hideshi Takesada.

"There is little possibility that North Korea will make a surprise proposal to Japan," he said. And Japan had barely budged its own position since the Korean summit.

"I don't basically expect any major move," Takesada said. "It will be a symbolic meeting and be used to pave the way for a full round of talks on diplomatic relations expected to be held in August."

In April, Japanese and North Korean negotiators met in Pyongyang to restart talks on setting up official ties after an eight-year break.

They agreed to have a second round of negotiations in Tokyo in May but just ahead of its summit with the South, North Korea asked Japan to delay the talks without giving any reason.

"The meeting will be in keeping with Japan's cooperation with the United States and South Korea, which also plan to hold counterpart talks with Paek," said Pyon Jin-il, publisher of Tokyo newsletter Korea Report.

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is also to seek a meeting with the North Korean foreign minister at the planned Asian security forum in Thailand, a State Department official said Sunday.

"Kono and Paek are expected to agree on the resumption of talks on establishing diplomatic ties," said Jin-il.

"But the big question will be whether Kono will bring up the sticking issues of missiles and abductions," he added, noting that G8 foreign ministers meeting in the southern Japanese city of Miyazaki last week barely touched on those questions.

Japan wants assurances about North Korea's missile program after Pyongyang lobbed a test ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean in August 1998.

It has also accused North Korean agents of kidnapping 10 Japanese nationals since the 1960s.

North Korea has in turn demanded compensation and an apology for Japan's harsh 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula.

Satoshi Morimoto, professor at Tokyo's Takushoku University, said the content of the planned Japan-North Korea foreign ministers' meeting was still up in the air.

"There has been not even a meeting at deputy minister level," said Morimoto. "So no optimism is warranted."

"Japan's public opinion cannot accept any compromise without solving the kidnapping issue," he cautioned. "Therefore, it is hard to expect the foreign ministers' meeting to give added momentum to Japan-North Korea relations."