DATE=12/21/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=JAPAN / NORTH KOREA (L)
NUMBER=2-257352
BYLINE=STEPHANIE HO
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO:  Japanese and North Korean Red Cross delegations 
meeting in Beijing have reached a deal on humanitarian 
issues.  V-O-A's Stephanie Ho reports this clears the way 
for government officials from both countries to begin talks 
on possible normalization of relations.

TEXT:  The head of the Japanese Red Cross delegation, 
Tadateru Konoe, was on his way to the airport to catch a 
plane back to Tokyo Tuesday.  But he was called back at the 
last minute for what turned out to be a successful last-
ditch round of talks.

After a hastily-arranged meeting between the North Korean 
and Japanese Red Cross delegations, both sides announced a 
humanitarian agreement that covers four major issues.

The Japanese Red Cross agreed to resume food aid shipments 
to impoverished North Korea, which has been suffering from a 
severe famine.  These shipments were suspended after North 
Korea test-fired a missile that flew over Japan in August 
1998.

A Japanese official says his country's Red Cross will 
propose that the government provide food aid to North Korea 
at the earliest possible date.  But he adds he does not know 
when the shipment will be made or how large it will be.

One controversial issue covered by the deal is Japanese 
allegations that North Korean spies kidnapped Japanese 
citizens.  The Japanese official says the North Korean Red 
Cross agreed to work with relevant agencies to investigate 
these accusations.  He says the deal does not specify the 
number of cases, but that the investigation will be based on 
claims from the Japanese side.

Disagreement over the issue caused normalization talks 
between Pyongyang and Tokyo to break down in late 1992 - 
just a little more than a year after they had begun.

In return, though, the Japanese Red Cross has agreed to look 
into the cases of North Koreans who have been missing since 
World War Two.

The fourth provision involves the resumption of visits back 
to Japan by Japanese wives of North Koreans.

The successful conclusion of the Red Cross meeting paves the 
way for North Korean and Japanese Foreign Ministry officials 
to restart talks on the possibility of normalizing 
relations.  The two-day meeting was supposed to be finished 
Tuesday, but snags in the Red Cross meetings delayed it by 
one day.  (signed)

NEB/HO/FC 



21-Dec-1999 04:39 AM EDT (21-Dec-1999 0939 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.