Another factor may be Japan’s push for ’international coalition’ against N.K.
North Korea’s decision to arrange a meeting between Kim Young-nam and his mother Choi Gye-wol at a round of inter-Korean family reunions scheduled for this month is being interpreted by observers as the result of overlapping strategic thinking between North and South Korea. To begin with, the turnaround on Pyongyang’s part can be characterized as an "offensive defense" against Japan. In April, the Japanese government announced that through DNA testing it had confirmed Mr. Kim had married Megumi Yokota, herself abducted from Japan decades ago, and that they had a daughter by the name of Kim Hye-gyeong. Since then the Japanese government has been stepping up its hard-line rhetoric towards North Korea. Observers note that with mid-term elections coming this Fall, the Japanese government has been trying to garner "international cooperation" on the abductee issue. Ms. Yokota’s mother met with U.S. president George W. Bush at the White House on April 28, and early last month Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi promised he would try to have North Korea’s acts of kidnapping be made part of the common agenda at the G8 meeting set to take place in Russia mid-July. North Korea may have decided it would be wise to approach the "humanitarian issue" of Kim Young-nam within the framework of an ordinary, scheduled reunion event, perhaps to weaken the international symbol that Ms. Yokota has become.Meanwhile, the South Korean government, which recently expressed determination to have its abducted citizens returned, is opposed to a Japanese proposal to create an international network of anti-North Korean cooperation. In a briefing held the day of North Korea’s announcement on the reunion, a South Korean official said his government "feels the issue of Kim Young-nam should be approached in an entirely practical manner, and not as a political campaign." In what may have been intended as criticism of the Japanese approach, he said people should "not try to make North Korea lose face or feel insulted." Another factor in the North’s decision may have been the South’s claim that it would give "bold economic aid" in return for the North’s cooperation on three stages in resolving the issue: the confirmation that abductees are still alive, reunions between the separated families, and eventual repatriation of the abductees. Resolving the issue would help heal the pain of the Cold War era and provide the South justification for giving Pyongyang economic aid. At the same time, the North itself has practical gains to be made by returning kidnapped South Koreans. The South Korean government appeared surprised at the speed of North Korea’s response. Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok first asked the North about Mr. Kim’s fate when, at ministerial talks held in Pyongyang in April, Minister Lee formally requested confirmation that Mr. Kim was still alive. At the time, North Korean officials said only that a government department was working on the matter.
