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JCP Ogata urges government to negotiate in earnest with North Korea

Japanese Communist Party representative Ogata Yasuo used his questioning time at the House of Councilors Committee on the Abduction Issue on December 14 to urge the government to demand that North Korea implement the promise to thoroughly unearth the truth about Japanese nationals who are "unaccounted for."

The committee meeting was held to discuss the issue following the revelation that the ashes North Korea gave to Japan as the remains of Yokota Megumi, a Japanese woman abducted in 1977, were not hers.

Ogata reminded the government that Kim Jon Il, chairman of North Korea's National Defense Commission promised Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro at the summit meeting on May 22, 2004 to carry out investigations in earnest from scratch into the missing Japanese nationals.

He also pointed out that North Korea's "special agency" which is responsible for the abduction of Japanese nationals has proven to be a stumbling block to the real investigation of the missing Japanese.

Yabunaka Mitoji, the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau director general, admitted that North Korea's "special agency" is hampering investigation and said that the "special agency" still exists.

Ogata said, "As long as Japan continues to talk to the 'special agency', the truth will not be found and there will be no solution to the issue. The need now is for Japan to hold constructive talks with North Korean officials who can cooperate in resolving the abduction issue."

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hosoda Hiroyuki said, "Given the fact that the top leader promised to address the issue but that there has been little progress, we will urge North Korea's responsible officials to tell the truth."

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On December 14, the House of Councilors Ad-hoc Committee on the Abduction Issue adopted a unanimous resolution calling for the resolution of the issue of abductions by North Korea of Japanese nationals. It had been jointly proposed by all parties in parliament , including the JCP.

Expressing "strong indignation at North Korea's dishonesty, which seriously hurts our national dignity and plays with the sentiments of families of abductees," the resolution calls on the Japanese government "to persevere to negotiate with the North Koreans." It also states, "Effective sanctions that are possible under the domestic laws, including the revised foreign exchange law and the law banning the entry of certain ships into Japanese ports, should be considered."

Expressing the JCP's support for the resolution, Ogata stated, "Now that the materials North Korea provided to Japan were proved to be false and that the involvement of the 'special agency" in the abductions has been revealed, economic sanctions can be an option, depending on North Korea's attitude, for promoting a negotiated resolution of the issue." (end)

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