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OO RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
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O 160933Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 001641 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV JA
SUBJECT: INITIAL REACTION TO DPRK DEAL MOSTLY POSITIVE 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Reaction to the announcement that Japan 
will partially lift its unilateral sanctions on North Korea, 
in return for a reinvestigation into the abductions issue and 
cooperation on repatriating four 1970's-era Japanese 
hijackers, dominated the news over the weekend.  Media 
attention focused on the potential ramifications for 
delisting.  Initial reporting suggests that a wide range of 
government officials and lawmakers consider the agreement 
reached at the June 11-12 working-level talks in Beijing a 
positive step, pending further DPRK action.  Abductee 
families, predictably, have taken the opposite view, a view 
echoed by the general public in early polling.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Most media outlets framed DPRK interest in making a 
deal as an attempt to sway the United States to move more 
quickly on delisting North Korea as a state sponsor of 
terrorism.  The Japanese press gave wide coverage to official 
U.S. reaction welcoming any "sincere actions" by the DPRK on 
the abductions issue.  Many focused on the significance of 
the talks for improved Japan-DPRK relations, speculating that 
any improvement in bilateral relations could speed delisting. 
 An unnamed "senior MOFA official" was quoted in the Asahi as 
saying Japan needs to look at the big picture, including 
progress on denuclearization, a stance that the Asahi 
interpreted to mean possible acceptance of U.S. delisting. 
At the same time, most reports have also cautioned against 
being overly optimistic that the DPRK will honor these new 
commitments.  Media reports have been quick to point out that 
Japan considers progress in the bilateral talks 
"insufficient" to trigger participation in energy aid to the 
DPRK at this point. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, briefing 
the press June 13 on the results of the June 11-12 
working-level bilateral talks in Beijing, said the agreement 
represents "a certain degree of progress."  He cautioned, 
however, that Japan has only agreed to lift the restrictions 
pending agreement on procedures for reinvestigating the fate 
of the abductees.  If North Korea complies, he said, Japan 
will once again allow personal travel between the two 
countries, including on North Korean chartered flights, and 
open Japanese ports to North Korean ships for the loading of 
humanitarian relief aid.  Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, more 
guarded in his comments, said only that "we are at the 
starting line of the negotiation process."  Special Advisor 
to the Prime Minister on Abductions Kyoko Nakayama urged the 
government to seek "concrete progress" on the investigation 
into abductions before lifting sanctions, and to re-impose 
sanctions if progress is unsatisfactory.  Unnamed MOFA 
officials were quoted as saying that they would coordinate 
with other relevant agencies over the next few days to look 
at the procedures for partially lifting the sanctions. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Japanese lawmakers were split over whether the 
outcome of the talks represents real progress.  Independent 
Lower House member Takeo Hiranuma, leader of a conservative 
supra-partisan group calling for early repatriation of the 
abductees, was cautiously optimistic in statements to the 
press.  Opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Secretary 
General Yukio Hatoyama, on the other hand, criticized the 
government for "too easily lifting sanctions," absent any 
real progress on abductions.  An anonymous ruling Liberal 
Democratic Party (LDP) "hard-liner" was quoted as saying that 
two years of sanctions had produced no progress on 
abductions.  Former LDP Vice President Taku Yamasaki, leader 
of a rival supra-partisan group urging greater engagement 
with North Korea, welcomed the resumption of dialogue.  LDP 
Secretary General Bunmei Ibuki, in several televised 
appearances over the weekend, urged that Japan be involved in 
the reinvestigation into abductions. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped 
by North Korean, briefed separately by the government on June 
13, reacted quickly to the decision to partially lift 
sanctions.  In a press conference the same evening, leaders 
 
TOKYO 00001641  002 OF 002 
 
 
conveyed the disappointment of the families of the abductees 
at the way the government had "lowered the bar" in defining 
the most recent DPRK overtures as "progress on abductions." 
The public appears generally opposed to lifting sanctions as 
well, according to an initial public opinion poll.  A 
Mainichi survey conducted June 14-15 registered opposition by 
55 percent of respondents, as opposed to only 34 percent in 
favor. 
SCHIEFFER