S. Korea unswayed by Japan view on N. Korea

S. Korea unswayed by Japan view on N. Korea

SEOUL (AFP): South Korea has failed to persuade Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to embrace its engagement policy with North Korea and lift sanctions imposed on the communist state.

President Kim Dae-Jung held more than two hours of talks with Obuchi on Saturday, but he was unable to convince the Japanese premier that Japan should take the first step and lift sanctions first while at the same tackling North Korea's missile threats.

"We had hoped the Japanese premier would agree to mend ties and lift sanctions following this trip, especially after the New York deal," a government source, who asked to remain anonymous, said on Sunday.

"But Japan seems determined to see some progress in solving North Korea's missile issue first," he said.

He said Japan's policy did not fit in with Kim's "Sunshine Policy" of peaceful engagement with North Korea as a way of breaking down Cold War confrontation in the region.

"Japan says it agrees with the basic principle of President Kim's Sunshine Policy but it is not willing to go further and mend ties before the missile issue is resolved," he said.

Obuchi ended on Sunday his three-day visit, the first by a Japanese premier in five years and the subject of a wave of anti- Japanese protests.

The Japanese prime minister made it clear during his speech at Korea University on Saturday that ties between Pyongyang and Tokyo could not improve as long as North Korea's missiles threatened Japan.

"In a situation in which North Korea does not dispel suspicions over nuclear weapons development, nor suspend the experimentation, launching development, deployment and export of ballistic missiles, it is difficult to build amicable bilateral relations," he said.

Officials here said that quote alone was evidence Japan had no intention of doing what Kim had pressed for -- to normalize relations between Pyongyang and Tokyo and lift sanctions.

Japan cut aid links and imposed other sanctions on North Korea after the unpredictable state launched a multi-stage medium-range Taepo-Dong ballistic missile over its territory last August.

While Obuchi voiced worries over North Korea's missile threats after talks with Kim Saturday, Kim responded by saying South Korea faced an even bigger threat from the missiles than Japan.

Despite the differences, South Korea and Japan appealed to North Korea to end decades of isolation and confrontation.

"We are willing to improve ties (with Pyongyang) and hereby issue a joint appeal for North Korea to open the door for dialog saying they would tolerate North Korea's missile proliferation.

"Prime Minister Obuchi and I shared the view that the North's development and test-firing of mid and long-range missiles will not be tolerated," Kim said.

He added that "South Korea, Japan and the United States must step up joint efforts" to work against the North's missile proliferation.

"The missiles are not only a threat to Japan but are a bigger threat to us," Kim said.

"We are taking a firm defense posture and sending a stern warning lo North Korea, but we are also sending a message of peace to the North so that it can choose the message of hope," he said.