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Japan Ruling Party Approves N.Korea Food Aid Plan
A Japanese government plan to donate 500,000 tonnes of rice to Stalinist North Korea won the support of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Wednesday, Japanese media said.
Japan, which has already sent 100,000 tonnes of rice this year to famine-stricken North Korea, is expected to formally announce the new food aid this week to help smooth the way for the next round of talks on resuming diplomatic ties.
Some LDP lawmakers had opposed sending Pyongyang new aid until North Korea settles the issue of 10 Japanese nationals allegedly abducted by North Korean agents.
But an LDP foreign affairs panel approved the plan, Jiji news agency said. Last week South Korea announced it was providing 600,000 tonnes of food to the impoverished communist country, which is expected to face a food shortage this year.
A source close to the North Korean government said last week that Pyongyang had asked Japan to give more than 500,000 tonnes of rice ahead of the next round of normalisation talks, scheduled to be held in an unspecified third country this month.
But activists and relatives of Japanese allegedly kidnapped by North Korean agents urged the Japanese government this week to hold off on more food shipments.
Japan and North Korea have so far held two rounds of talks this year in an attempt to overcome decades of tension and establish diplomatic ties. Japanese media said last Friday that Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori had sent a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in August urging a summit meeting.
But the push for improved ties remains hampered by politics.
North Korea is demanding an apology and compensation for Tokyo's harsh 1910-1945 rule of the peninsula, while Japan is pushing to resolve the abduction issue.
Japanese government officials said the expanded food aid would play an instrumental role in bringing the historic foes closer in the normalisation talks.
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