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Article: North Korea comes clean: Soeya Yoshihide analyzes the historic diplomatic breakthrough made by Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro in Pyongyang in September. (Viewpoints).
- Article from:
- Look Japan
- Article date:
- December 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Look Japan, Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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PRIME Minister Koizumi Junichiro's one-day visit to North Korea on September 17 has unleashed the potential for a historic shift in the international politics of North East Asia. Needless to say, the abduction of 11 Japanese citizens, whose number later became 15 after North Korea admitted the additional cases, is important in its own fight. Kim Jong-il, the Supreme Leader of North Korea, also admitted to Koizumi that an unidentified ship chased and sunk by the Japanese coast guard earlier this year was a North Korean vessel operating clandestinely. These admissions by Kim Jong-il were entirely unexpected and caught many North Korean watchers off guard.
The ...