Ampontan
- With friends like these
Sunday, October 19, 2008
WITH THE EXCEPTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, Japan has been America’s most dependable ally since the end of the Second World War. To take the point further, Japanese conduct in that time might well be used as a model for the behavior of the ideal national ally. continued ...
Telegraph
- Families of missing Japanese angry at US - North Korea deal
Last Updated: 11:40AM BST 18 Oct 2008
There were celebrations in Washington and Pyongyang when North Korea and America agreed a groundbreaking deal but, for Sakie Yokata, and her husband, Shigeru, there was no cause to celebrate.
By Julian Ryall in Tokyo
The US decision to remove North Korea from its list of terrorist countries marked a new low in the 31-year-search for her daughter. Megumi Yokota was 13 when she was snatched on her way home from school in November 1977 by North Korean agents. continued ... - Families of missing Japanese angry at US - North Korea deal
Last Updated: 11:40AM BST 18 Oct 2008
There were celebrations in Washington and Pyongyang when North Korea and America agreed a groundbreaking deal but, for Sakie Yokata, and her husband, Shigeru, there was no cause to celebrate.
By Julian Ryall in Tokyo
The US decision to remove North Korea from its list of terrorist countries marked a new low in the 31-year-search for her daughter. Megumi Yokota was 13 when she was snatched on her way home from school in November 1977 by North Korean agents. continued ... - Japan denounces US decision to remove North Korea from terrorism blacklist
Last Updated: 7:59PM BST 12 Oct 2008
Japan denounced America's decision to remove North Korea from its terrorism blacklist, pointedly reminding Washington that 17 of its citizens are still held captive by the Stalinist state.
By Julian Ryall in Tokyo
Taro Aso, the new prime minister, was called out of an official dinner to learn that President George W. Bush had authorised North Korea's removal from the official list of state sponsors of terrorism. continued ...
Sydney Morning Herald
- Change of tack by Bush miffs Tokyo
October 18, 2008
WITH the crumbling American economy, the precarious hold on security achieved by the "surge" in Iraq, and the widening threat of Islamist extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, George Bush has just been forced to accept another setback to his original agenda.
His presidency is ending with a slap in the face for the key ally in Asia, Japan, for whom his advisers had envisaged an enhanced role in Asian security. continued ...
The Japan Times
- U.S. reassures Japan on abductions
Friday, Oct. 17, 2008
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) The United States will continue to support Japan on the abduction issue even though it has removed Pyongyang from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, the State Department said Wednesday. continued ... - Aso downplays removal of N. Korea from U.S. blacklist
Monday, Oct. 13, 2008
(Kyodo News) The U.S. move to strike North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism won't prevent finding a resolution to Pyongyang's abductions of Japanese nationals, Prime Minister Taro Aso said Sunday. continued ...
Independent (UK)
- Trimming a hawk's wings
17 Oct 2008
Outspoken Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso holds his tongue as Washington informs him at the 11th hour of its decision to remove North Korea from its list of terrorism-sponsoring states, Axel Berkofsky writes for ISN Security Watch.
By Axel Berkofsky for ISN Security Watch
Newly elected Japanese Prime Taro Aso is not happy. continued ...
Kyoto
- Japan envoy Fujisaki sees U.S. delisting as no surprise
Oct 16 09:39 PM US/Eastern
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki said Thursday the U.S. removal of North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism came as no surprise to Japan. continued ... - Aso Cabinet reaffirms N. Korea policy of sanctions, no fuel aid
Oct 15 07:07 AM US/Eastern
Japan will stand firm in maintaining its sanctions on North Korea and not take part in six-party energy aid to Pyongyang until progress is made on resolving the issue of its past abductions, Prime Minister Taro Aso reaffirmed with all Cabinet ministers Wednesday in the wake of the North being checked off the U.S. terror-sponsoring blacklist. continued ... - Abductees' families call for more sanctions over N. Korea delisting
Oct 15 03:57 AM US/Eastern
TOKYO, Oct. 15 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The families of Japanese victims of North Korea's past abductions urged the government on Wednesday to step up economic sanctions on North Korea to maintain its pressure to resolve the issue in the wake of the U.S. removal of the North from its list of terror- sponsoring nations. continued ...
Agence France-Presse (AFP)
- US envoy asks Japan families for understanding on NKorea
October 16, 2008
TOKYO (AFP) — The US ambassador to Japan on Thursday tried to ease anger at the US decision to take North Korea off its terrorist blacklist, seeking understanding from families of people kidnapped by Pyongyang. continued ... - Japan PM says won't give energy aid to NKorea
Tue Oct 14, 1:13 PM
TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday criticised the US removal of North Korea from a terrorist blacklist and refused to give aid to Pyongyang under a nuclear disarmament deal. continued ...
Voice of America
- North Korea Off Terror List
16 October 2008
The Following Is An Editorial Reflecting the Views of The US Government
The Six-Party Talks, which are aimed at the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, began in 2003. The participants include North Korea (the DPRK), South Korea, Japan, the Russian Federation and the United States, under the chairmanship of China. continued ... - Critics of US-North Korea Nuclear Deal Say US Concedes Too Much
13 October 2008
By Kurt Achin, Seoul
For many, this weekend's nuclear compromise between the United States and North Korea brought a sigh of relief that a six nation diplomatic process could be salvaged. But the deal has critics, both in the United States and Japan. VOA's Kurt Achin has more from Seoul. continued ...
Reuters
- Japan PM vows to bring abductees home from N.Korea
Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:07pm IST
By Yoko Nishikawa
TOKYO (Reuters) - Six years after Japanese kidnapped by North Korea agents returned home to an emotional welcome, Prime Minister Taro Aso vowed on Wednesday to do all he could to repatriate other abductees. continued ... - Japan criticises US decision on North Korea
Sunday, 12 October 2008
Japan pledged on Sunday to try to resolve an emotive dispute with North Korea over citizens abducted by Pyongyang decades ago, after Washington took the secretive communist state off its terrorist blacklist. continued ...
Daily Yomiuri Online
- North Korea's hard line pays off
(Oct. 15, 2008)
North Korea will have gained far more through its delisting from the U.S. blacklist of terrorism-sponsoring states than it will have lost through its agreement to accept international verification of its nuclear programs. continued ... - Has Japan suffered a diplomatic defeat?
(Oct. 15, 2008)
Hiroshi Yumoto and Takeo Miyazaki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers
The United States' removal of North Korea from its blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism--symbolically significant but with little immediate impact on Washington-Pyongyang relations--has come as a major psychological blow to Japan. People both inside and outside the government have said the delisting is tantamount to a "diplomatic defeat" for Japan, brought about in part by a domestic political vacuum. continued ... - Aso vows to be committed to tackling abduction issue
(Oct. 15, 2008)
Prime Minister Taro Aso told a Diet committee Tuesday that the government would seek to resolve the issue of Japanese abducted by North Korean agents despite the United States' removal of the reclusive country from a list of terrorism-sponsoring states. continued ... - Govt reacts calmly to DPRK delisting
(Oct. 13, 2008)
The Foreign Ministry has reacted with equanimity to the United States' removal of North Korea from its list of terrorism-sponsoring states, with a senior ministry official maintaining that there will be no major change in the situation surrounding the reclusive communist country. continued ... - U.S. set to take DPRK off terrorist list
(Oct. 11, 2008)
Takeo Miyazaki / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
WASHINGTON--The U.S. government was set to remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism as early as Friday following a deal in talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programs, a high-ranking U.S. government official told The Yomiuri Shimbun. continued ...
Asahi
- EDITORIAL: North Korea's delisting
(IHT/Asahi: October 15,2008)
The U.S. government on Saturday removed North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. Before Washington announced its decision, President George W. Bush contacted Prime Minister Taro Aso and promised his continued support of Japan's efforts to resolve the issue of North Korea's past abductions of Japanese citizens. Bush's message to Japan was clear: We understand your concerns (about the abduction issue) but there is no other choice. continued ...
GlobalTalk21
- Shoichi Nakagawa’s Choice of Regrettables Is Not by Accident
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
The English-language media seized on the “extremely regrettable” comment that Shoichi Nakagawa, Finance Minister and well-known hardliner, made with regard to the U.S. delisting of North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism and took it as the expression of Japanese displeasure. There was one article that even speculated that Japan might stop the U.S.-DPRK agreement at the Six-Party Talks. In fact, Mr. Nakagawa’s words had served only to let off steam. That should have been clear from the circumstances and the wording. continued ...
Washington Post
- U.S. Move on N. Korea Assailed in Japan
Monday, October 13, 2008; Page A18
Nuclear Plant's Dismantling To Resume, Pyongyang Says
By Blaine Harden, Washington Post Foreign Service
TOKYO, Oct. 12 -- A day after the Bush administration removed North Korea from its terrorism blacklist, the country announced that it would resume tearing down its main nuclear plant, and South Korea welcomed the move as a step toward ending its next-door neighbor's nuclear program.
But in nearby Japan -- where North Korea's kidnapping of Japanese citizens is a festering national sore that politicians dare not neglect -- the decision to take the country off the list of state sponsors of terrorism was condemned by family members of the abductees. These relatives are well-known and much-honored in Japan, and their opinions have been a powerful force in crafting Japan's hard-nosed policy toward North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. continued ...
Observing Japan
- The US finally goes through with delisting North Korea
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The thinkable is finally the actual.
After more than a year since it became plausible for the US to remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism as a reward for cooperation in negotiations over the North Korean nuclear program, the US State Department has announced that it will remove North Korea from the list. With the global financial system melting down, this move appears to have been timed in the hope that it would receive less scrutiny than it would otherwise. The US move may also been in response to signs that North Korea may be preparing another nuclear test. continued ...
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