No Progress in Talks on Ties With Japan

Japan and North Korea reported no progress today after their first round of talks in eight years aimed at establishing diplomatic relations, but the two sides agreed to meet again in Tokyo next month. After three days of talks in North Korea, the top negotiators for both nations said they had “reconfirmed the need to continue talks on normalizing ties.” The brief closing statement did not mention the many long-standing disputes that were discussed, including the North’s demand for compensation from Japan over its abuses decades ago as the colonial master of the entire Korean peninsula. Earlier today, the negotiators said they were committed to efforts to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries.