NWI Insights - Japan turns to Europe for support on the North Korea nuclear and abduction crisis

Each week NWI features NHK, a newscast from Japan that provides insights into significant news from this region of the world. Last Friday's headlines began with the topic most pressing in the region, North Korea. It reported that the Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, was on his way back from a 5 day visit to Europe in an attempt to gain support for the simmering North Korea nuclear crisis and the problem of abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea. On the final day of the visit, he met with the Greek Prime Minister Constantine Simitis, currently President of the European Union, and they issued a joint statement on the situation in North Korea.

In the statement, the parties agreed to help resolve the nuclear and abduction situation. This was the first time that abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea has been stipulated in a statement by the EU. The Japanese Prime Minister said that he hoped that the EU would be able to persuade North Korea to act with respect . The Greek Prime Minister expressed concern that North Korea were not acting in accordance with international law and that the EU and Japan would work together to find a diplomatic, peaceful solution.

In Closewatch the analysis section of NHK, Toshiki Mogami, a professor from the International Christian University in Japan talked about the role of the international community in the North Korea conflict. He asserted that overall the Japanese Prime Minister's trip had been successful.

In terms of North Korea and a possible breach of international law, Mogami argued that it was a delicate issue. On one hand North Korea had abandoned the nuclear proliferation treaty so they were not in violation of this agreement. However, they previously had agreements with the US regarding abstaining from a nuclear weapons program and in this scenario they would have contravened an international accord. The most important issue concluded Mogami was to resolve the problem of uncertain security that exists in the region as a whole due to the threat of nuclear weapons from North Korea.

When asked about the benefit of UN involvement in the negotiations with North Korea, Mogami recognised that this too was a sensitive topic. Too much publicity and resolve through the UN could upset North Korea and perhaps negotiation would be more effective in a closed environment. However Mogami notes that an official condemnation by the UN on North Korea's actions was appropriate as it demonstrated the opinion of the international community.

In the upcoming G8 summit, Mogami asserted that it would be probable that world leaders could come to a joint consensus over the way forward in the North Korea crisis.

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