Experts take on why North Korea excluded Japanese reporters from destruction of its nuclear test site 1

  • 6 years ago
It seems as though Japan's concerns of being left out of the diplomacy surrounding North Korea's nuclear issue are not completely unfounded.
As we reported yesterday.... Pyongyang invited reporters from South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and the UK,.... to let them cover the dismantlement of its nuclear test site,.... but Japan was not invited,... despite being the other member of the long-stalled six-party talks.
To get a clearer understanding of what might be behind the North's decision and how ties between Pyongyang and Tokyo could develop over the coming weeks and months,.... we have our Lee Ji-won joining us in the studio today.
Great to have you with us Ji-won.

Great to be here.

So Ji-won, has the North said anything about what might have led to its decision to leave Japan out of its inviation list?

Ji-yoon, the North has not provided us with any official explanation. But experts have been weighing in with their own theories.
One reason is that the North still harbors a grudge against Japan for its past wrongdoings.
Japan colonized Korea for decades in the early to mid-1900s and was responsible for atrocities like kidnapping Korean women to use as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers. Even today, Japan continues to repeat its false territorial claims over Korea's easternmost island of Dokdo and the East Sea.
However, it has been reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un told South Korean President Moon Jae-in during last month's inter-Korean summit that he hopes to normalize ties with Tokyo ON* the condition that Japan makes amends for its past war crimes against Korea.
But many experts also point to Japan's continual hardline stance and its pressing of the U.S. as the reason.

"Japan proposed to the U.S. that it raise five new points at the North Korea-U.S. summit, including the dismantlement of the regime's biological weapons, short and long-range missile programs and more. So for Pyongyang, it could be seen as Tokyo pushing the U.S. to take a harder stance on the North amid the reconciliatory mood."

After the U.S. and Japan agreed to include other weapons of mass destruction as issues to be discussed at the Pyongyang-Washington summit, the North's state-run newspaper the Rodong Sinmun reported that Japan is sponging off other countries to make inroads into North Korea, but that NO one is seeking help from Japan and the world is indifferent to whether the country exists or not.
Some analysts also point out that the North could be using these issues as leverage for future negotiations.

"Japan keeps bringing up the abductee issue, which the North sees as resolved. While Japan is using it as a bargaining chip to get a better deal in future negotiations with Pyongyang, the North is also raising the bar so Tokyo cannot easily get involved in the issue. Later, by including Japan in talks, Pyongyang would be doing the Japanese government a great favor."

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