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International News Title: Japan Toughens North Korea Stance TOKYO—Japanese lawmakers moved Thursday to tighten restrictions on North Korea, signaling Tokyo's desire to remain a strong and reliable U.S. partner following months of acrimony over U.S. troop deployments. Japanese officials are also considering other steps that could affect a group of about 600,000 North Koreans in Japan—a legacy of Japan's domination of Korea more than 60 years ago. A Japanese parliamentary committee passed a bill Thursday to authorize the nation's coast guard to inspect North Korean cargo ships in international waters. The bill is expected to pass the main chamber of Japan's upper house of parliament Friday Japanese government officials are also considering other measures such as tightening reporting requirements for fund remittance and physical shipments of funds from Japan to North Korea. The Public Security Intelligence Agency, Japan's main government intelligence agency, ordered its officials stationed across Japan to strengthen information gathering related to North Korea. In particular, Japanese officials are focusing on a group called the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, the de-facto North Korean embassy in Japan that is also known by the name Chongryon. Mikinao Kitada, head of the Japanese intelligence agency, said in a speech to the heads of its regional bureaus and broadcast on television that the agency will keep a close eye on Chongryon as it was "deepening subordination to North Korea." [JKOREA] Associated Press An official at Chongryon said the group didn't have comment Thursday on Mr. Kitada's remark. The group is often praised by North Korea's official media, which have said North Korean officials provide it with funds for education. The moves suggest that the government of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama wants to put months of bickering with the U.S. behind it. The two longtime allies were at loggerheads over where to move U.S. troops in Okinawa. Citing the importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance and the rising tensions in Asia, Mr. Hatoyama on Sunday changed course and accepted an existing military relocation accord with the U.S. That broke a campaign promise with Japanese voters not to allow a new military facility in Okinawa. The bill that passed through committee Thursday allows Japanese coast guard officials to board North Korean ships suspected of carrying banned items such as weapons, nuclear materials or narcotics, or order rerouting into Japanese waters where the Japanese police can order the submission of banned items. The coast guard needs to receive consent of the targeted ship before boarding, however, which could make the new law ineffectual. The original version of the bill was drawn up in response to a United Nations resolution condemning nuclear testing by North Korea last year but failed to receive approval before the change in Japanese administrations in September. While Japan isn't nearly as prominent a supporter of North Korea as is China, Japan's large North Korean community complicates its interactions. Taking aim at North Korea's vulnerable economy, Japan is also considering further lowering the ceiling on the amount of remittances the Japanese government require be reported to authorities. The government's current policy requires remittances that exceed 10 million yen, or about $111,000, be reported to the Ministry of Finance. Remittance payments have already dropped off in recent years after the Japanese government imposed similar punitive measures. The government discontinued a ferry service between North Korea and the Japanese city of Niigata after Pyongyang launched rockets and detonated its first nuclear device in 2006. The move crippled the ability to transport funds and goods to the country, a bulk of which is sent to relatives there by ethnic Koreans living in Japan. The total sum of remittances sent by boat or plane fell to 191 million yen in 2007 from 1.61 billion yen the previous year, according to Japan's Ministry of Finance. The Korean population in Japan grew in the aftermath of Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945, during which thousands of Koreans migrated to Japan, some by force as slave laborers. Many of these ethnic Koreans have sent remittances to aid relatives and friends who live in North Korea. A portion of the remittances are for those who returned to North Korea as part of an exodus of up to 100,000 people in the late 1950s and 1960s. Payments can be sent by wire transfers or postal service, but the lack of banks in the North made it easier to physically deliver the aid on visits back home, according to Chongryon, the North Korean association. The amount of shipped funds reached as high as 2.48 billion yen in 2004, compared to 107 million yen transmitted through money transfers and postal service during the same period. In addition to the funds, Chongryon officials said travelers also carted electronic devices, blankets, food and other basic commodities to the country. Write to Yuka Hayashi at yuka.hayashi@wsj.com
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
#1. To: WhiteSands (#0)
Two questions. Do you think that Japan has a right to build nukes? Do you think they should?
#2. To: A K A Stone (#1)
Yes on both. Should they?
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