BANDAR
SERI BEGAWAN, July 31 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Japan and
North Korea said Wednesday, July 31, they have reached agreement
during ministerial talks in Brunei to make "serious efforts"
to heal rifts and normalize relations as soon as possible.
The
meeting between Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and her
North Korean counterpart Paek Nam-Sun, on the sidelines of a regional
security forum, was the their first ministerial contact in two years,
Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
In
a joint statement, Japan and North Korea said they would make
"serious efforts to solve various issues, including issues
concerning the settlement of the past," in order to normalize
relations as soon as possible.
Outstanding
issues include the alleged abductions of 11 Japanese by North Korea
during the 1970s and 1980s reportedly to train North Korean spies in
Japanese customs.
In
their statement, Japan and North Korea said their aim was to improve
"bilateral relations and to contribute to peace and stability in
the region."
The
consensus was reached in a 55-minute meeting between Kawaguchi and
Paek, a Japanese official told a media briefing after the meeting.
The
agreement allows for Red Cross officials from both sides to meet in
mid-August to bring about a solution to "humanitarian"
issues, including the alleged abductions.
Senior
civil servants from the two countries will also meet late August 2002,
possibly August 25, to discuss issues concerning the normalization of
bilateral relations and issues of mutual concern, the official said.
The
talks, likely to be held in Pyongyang, will also touch on concerns
about Pyongyang's development of weapons of mass destruction and of
missiles, the Japanese official said.
The
agreement to continue meeting is "something new" in
Japan-North Korea ties, the official said.
"Both
sides concurred that the issue of concern on humanitarian affairs
should be treated sincerely, and that this issue should be resolved as
early as possible," the joint statement said.
The
Japanese official quoted Paek as saying during the talks that he
recognized the alleged abductions were of concern to Tokyo and he
would pay "positive attention" to efforts to resolve the
issue.
"For
relations to normalize, a settlement of the past has to take
place," the Japanese official quoted Paek as saying.
Kawaguchi
said she was aware of the pain caused to the Korean peninsula by the
past acts of Japan, AFP reported.
The
Japanese official described the talks as a "frank exchange of
views" and that Kawaguchi saw Paek as very "calm" and
"gentle."
The
meeting was the first by foreign ministers of the two countries since
a historic encounter in July 2000 between then Japanese foreign
minister Yohei Kono and Paek on the sidelines of the ARF in Bangkok.
Japan
and North Korea suspended decade-old rapprochement talks in 2000 after
Tokyo focused on the alleged kidnappings. Pyongyang in turn demanded
compensation for Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of Korea.
The
meeting between Kawaguchi and Paek followed a 15-minute informal chat
between U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Paek in the first
high-level contact of President George W. Bush's administration, which
just months ago vilified Pyongyang as one-third of an "axis of
evil."
Powell
later described the encounter as "a good meeting, a short meeting
over coffee. We reviewed where we are and I told him we should stay in
touch and see how to pursue our dialogue."
Paek
told reporters after the meeting that it was fruitful and that the two
sides had "agreed to resume talks."
A
senior U.S. official, however, said that assessment was premature and
that a resumption of full-on talks could not happen until Powell had
consulted with Bush and allies Japan and South Korea
