Junichiro Koizumi

A breakthrough on the emotive issue would not only clear the way for talks on establishing diplomatic ties between the two countries but would be a political coup for Koizumi ahead of July's Upper House election.

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Koizumi has told Foreign Ministry officials to start preparations for a visit to North Korea, his second after a historic 2002 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

The visit would take place once Pyongyang had promised that the family members of abductees who are in the North could be reunited with their families in Japan. In return, Japan would provide humanitarian aid.

Koizumi might bring the family members to Japan, the Nikkei said. A Koizumi visit had apparently been proposed at talks May 4 and 5 between Japanese and North Korean officials in Beijing, it said.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 15, 2004
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