S. Korea's leader asks Japan to provide food to N. Korea

September 25, 2000
Web posted at: 5:37 AM HKT (2137 GMT)

TOKYO (AP) -- South Korea's president on Sunday asked Japan to increase shipments of food to North Korea as part of a joint effort to improve relations with the impoverished Stalinist nation.

"North Korea would be very appreciative if Japan would provide aid at this very difficult time," South Korean President Kim Dae-jung said on the last day of a two-day meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.

In March, Japan decided to resume food aid to the North that was suspended in 1998 after Pyongyang tested a ballistic missile.

Since then, Japan has delivered almost 100,000 tons of rice to the reclusive state, which is suffering food shortages following severe drought and typhoons.

Mori told Kim that Tokyo is considering giving additional assistance. Suspicion has been rife in Japan that the North is using food donations to feed its soldiers rather than starving families.

Kim's request came a day after he and Mori agreed to improve economic and cultural ties while cooperating to reduce military tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula.

The desire to ease tensions amid the shared threat of North Korea's missile program has helped to unite Japan and South Korea, long separated by wartime resentment, in the pursuit of greater stability in the region.

Kim, who left Japan on Sunday, was visiting for the first time since holding a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in June. A notable thaw has begun between the rivals, and Japan has taken a keen interest in the detente.

Kim told Mori that he had the impression during the June summit that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was eager to normalize ties with Japan.

Negotiators from the two nations have met twice this year but are still hamstrung by long-standing grievances, such as Japan's demands for information on citizens allegedly kidnapped by the North to train spies.

On Sunday, North Korea again denied the abductions and said it was not interested in opening diplomatic ties with Japan if Tokyo keeps insisting on the issue.

North Korea "does not care about whether diplomatic relations with Japan are improved or not," the state-run Rodong Sinmun daily said in a commentary carried by the North's official foreign news outlet, KCNA.

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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