Japan Offers Food Aid to North Korea In Exchange For Kidnap Settlement

The Asahi Shimbun reported on May 17 that the Japanese government will send 250,000 tons of rice to North Korea if Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s visit to North Korea on May 22 brings about progress in resolving the kidnapped Japanese issue.

Koizumi is planning to reveal the intention of rice aid if North Korean leader Kim Jong-il promises the return of the abducted Japanese people remaining in North Korea and an inquiry into the true states of 10 missing people at the summit talks.

If this happens, it will be the largest scale of rice aid since Japan sent 500,000 tons of rice to North Korea in 2000. The Japanese government is planning to send rice by way of accepting a request from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The Japanese press conveyed that Koizumi will call for normalizing North Korea-Japan relations and holding a meeting for national security in the near future.

The Japanese government on that day dispatched an advance party for preliminary arrangements such as arranging topics for the summit talks, escort, and the ceremony.

Won-Jae Park parkwj@donga.com