DATE=11/2/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=JAPAN / NORTH KOREA (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-255730
BYLINE=STEVE SHAYMAN
DATELINE=TOKYO
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:


INTRO:  Japan is lifting a ban on charter flights to 
North Korea, in the first easing of sanctions imposed 
when Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile over 
Japanese territory last year.  As Steven Shayman 
reports from Tokyo, the move comes amid improving ties 
between the reclusive North and the United States.

TEXT:  Deputy Cabinet Secretary Soichiro Matsutani 
says the Japanese government decided to lift the ban 
because it believes North Korea is honoring its 
missile launch moratorium mediated by the United 
States.

The Japanese government imposed sanctions on North 
Korea after it fired a ballistic missile that flew 
over Japan in August last year.  Pyongyang said the 
launch was an attempt to orbit a satellite. 

In September, North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam 
Sun said his country would suspend testing of long-
range ballistic missiles in return for the lifting of 
a U-S ban on trade and investment.

Japanese Deputy Cabinet Secretary Matsutani says the 
resumption of charter flights is due to Japan's desire 
to see further improvement in ties between Pyongyang 
and Washington.  He says he hopes that would spread to 
include a thaw in Tokyo's icy relations with the 
North.

Japanese government sources admit there was pressure 
by Washington to hasten the removal of sanctions prior 
to talks between the United States and North Korea 
November 15th in Berlin.

Following the meeting, a senior North Korean official 
is expected to visit United States. 

Many thorny issues still stand in the way of improved 
relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang.

One difficult dispute has been Japanese allegations 
that North Korean spies abducted at least 10 Japanese 
citizens in the 1970's and 1980's.  Some of the 
missing people were said to have vanished while 
walking alone in coastal areas facing the Sea of 
Japan, which lies between Japan and the Korean 
peninsula.

North Korea has vigorously denied the kidnapping 
allegations, which have stood in the way of official 
contacts with Tokyo.

Japan ruled the Korean peninsula as a colony from 1910 
to 1945.  It established diplomatic relations with 
capitalist South Korea in 1965, but has yet to do so 
with the North.   (SIGNED)

NEB/SGS/GC/RAE




02-Nov-1999 07:57 AM EDT (02-Nov-1999 1257 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.