Japan, N. Korea to Continue Trying for Diplomatic Ties

Japanese and North Korean officials agreed Wednesday to continue talks on establishing diplomatic ties but were unable to announce plans for the start of formal negotiations.

A Japanese Foreign Ministry official who attended the two sessions of talks spread over two days said the North Korean side showed a strong desire to improve relations with Tokyo. He said the parties agreed to meet early next year and will probably again hold the negotiations on neutral ground in Beijing.

This week’s meeting, the first high-level talks between the estranged governments in two years, signaled a significant improvement after decades of antagonism. It followed an agreement Tuesday by Red Cross delegations from each country on food aid and other humanitarian issues.

Tokyo suspended government negotiations on normalizing relations 15 months ago after North Korea test-fired a rocket over Japan. It agreed to resume talks after the United States persuaded North Korea to stop testing missiles.

The missile tests were among a wide range of issues discussed this week by Koreshige Anami, director general of the Asian bureau of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, and his North Korean counterpart, O Ui Rok, the Japanese official said.

The two countries have never had diplomatic relations. North Korea often criticizes Japan for brutalities committed by its Imperial Army during Tokyo’s half-century occupation of the Korean Peninsula and for its ties with the United States and North Korea’s rival, South Korea.