Koizumi 'mulls visit to N. Korea'
By Marinah Mazuki,WNS Tokyo Correspondent
TOKYO - Japan's former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is mulling a visit to North Korea to urge it to abandon its nuclear weapons program, news reports said Thursday. Koizumi told senior ruling party lawmaker Taku Yamasaki during a meeting Wednesday that he was considering a trip as a special envoy to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, according to reports by public broadcaster NHK and the mass-circulation daily, Yomiuri Shimbun. The former leader wants to urge the North to honor a 2002 pledge to maintain peace in Northeast Asia and freeze its missile program, made at summit talks in Pyongyang between Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the reports said. "Denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula is a responsibility I want to take on as politician," Yomiuri quoted Koizumi as telling Yamasaki. It was not clear when the trip might be. Yamasaki told Koizumi he supported the idea of a visit, the reports said. An official at Koizumi's office in Tokyo said the former leader had met Yamasaki late Wednesday, but said Koizumi did not wish to comment on his plans. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing protocol.
The reports come amid international efforts to convince Pyongyang to return to the six-party talks on its nuclear ambitions, which have taken on a new urgency since the North tested a nuclear device on Oct. 9. U.S. diplomats have offered specific details on the kind of economic and energy assistance Pyongyang would receive in exchange for dismantling its nuclear weapons facilities, according to a recent news report. The North pulled out of the Chinese-hosted six-nation talks -- which also involve the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and China -- after the U.S. imposed financial restrictions on a Macau-based bank Washington alleges was used for financial crimes by Pyongyang. The North also opposes a U.N. sanctions resolution adapted after its nuclear test.
Koizumi visited Pyongyang twice as prime minister, first in 2002, where he and Kim agreed to work to maintain peace in the region and establish formal diplomatic ties. During that visit, Koizumi also negotiated the return of five Japanese nationals who were kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s. Pyongyang has admitted to abducting 13 Japanese to coach its spies in Japanese language and culture, but says the other eight are dead. Koizumi visited the North again in May 2004 to bring back some of the abductees' family members. He stepped down as prime minister in September, but retains a seat in parliament's powerful lower house.
posted by wnsworld @ 3:17 PM
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