U.S. Gives Tacit Nod to Japan Easing North Korea Sanctions
The United States offered a tacit approval Thursday to Tokyo's easing of some sanctions on North Korea, saying it can "understand" Japan's efforts to resolve abductions of its nationals.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his government will revoke some of its unilateral sanctions on Pyongyang as a reward for the secretive state's progress in its pledge to reinvestigate the cases of Japanese citizens snatched in the 1970s and 1980s.
The United States maintains sweeping sanctions on North Korea, and U.S. lawmakers have moved toward toughening them further, but Washington appears to have opted against publicly objecting to Tokyo's easing of their restrictions on Pyongyang.
"We closely coordinate with our allies and partners, including Japan, to counter the threat to global security posed by the DPRK's (North Korea) nuclear and ballistic missile programs," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.
"At the same time, we empathize with the families of the abductees and understand Japan's efforts to resolve this humanitarian issue."
Tokyo "is pursuing the resolution of this issue in a transparent manner that takes into account both the interests of the families of the abductees and the national security interests of Japan and its diplomatic partners in the denuclearization effort," she added.
The sanctions in question are additional to international strictures imposed after U.N. Security Council resolutions following nuclear and missile tests carried out by North Korea.
Tokyo's announcement came after the two sides met in Beijing to discuss what happened to the dozens -- or even hundreds -- of people Japan says were snatched by North Korean spies to train their agents in language and customs.
Japan and North Korea do not have formal diplomatic ties and relations between the two have been testy for decades.
Source: Agence France Presse
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