Japan to revoke some sanctions on North Korea

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his government will revoke some of its unilateral sanctions on North Korea.

In a brief statement to reporters on Thursday, Abe said the decision is in return for Pyongyang’s promise to reinvestigate the disappearance of missing Japanese citizens during the Cold War by setting up a panel.

Abe says Pyongyang has shown “sufficient willingness” in resolving the decade-old row and that this needs to be reciprocated.

“We have concluded that an unprecedented scheme that can make national decisions has been established. In accordance with the principle of action to action, we will lift part of the measures taken by Japan,” he added.
The Japanese premier, however, did not provide any details on the sanctions that would be lifted, but government sources said Tokyo will lift a ban on North Koreans entering Japan and end the embargo on some North Korean ships entering Japanese ports.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the Japanese government will formally lift the sanctions on Friday, July 4, when Pyongyang is scheduled to set up the investigation committee.

The move comes a day after envoys from the two sides met in Beijing to discuss Pyongyang’s probe into the fate of the 13 Japanese nationals who were kidnapped in the 1970s and 1980s allegedly to instruct North Korea’s spies in Japanese language and customs.

In 2002, North Korea admitted the abduction of the Japanese nationals. Pyongyang has returned five of the kidnapped victims and their spouses and children since then, insisting that the other eight are dead.

Japan and North Korea do not have formal diplomatic ties and relations between the two countries have been sour for decades.