Japan and North Korea remain far apart, even if Kim Jong Un woo the others

TOKYO – As a North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un is working on diplomatic channels between Seoul and Washington, an Asian leader finds himself in the cold.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly expressed his determination to meet Kim and "break the shell of mutual mistrust". Until now, there is nothing on the horizon.

Just the opposite, actually.

The North Korean propaganda machine is easy for the United States this year. But he intensified his defamation of Japan, sparing no opportunity to remind his citizens how Korea suffered under Japanese colonial rule in the decades leading up to the Second World War.

According to the North Korean state media, Japan is nothing less than an "odious war criminal state", populated by "island barbarians" and led by a "spearhead of corruption "that has only done bad things since coming to power.

The question is whether all this is important. After all, the North has ravaged the United States with a similar propaganda barrage for decades.

But this year's fast-paced events shed light on Japan's aberrant status, as possible deals are broken and new connections are forged.

"There is a real danger that Abe's Japan will be left behind," said Koichi Nakano, a professor of political science at Sophia University in Tokyo.

The Japanese media have taken a similar stance this week, reacting coldly to the exhilarating mood of the summit between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Nikkei, an influential financial newspaper, described the "worst case scenario" in which North Korea abandons its intercontinental ballistic missiles, but retains those that can target Japan.

"Cooperation between Japan, the United States and South Korea is essential," said a Nikkei article.

[Japan’s Abe finds himself out of step on North Korea]

Last year, Japan was on the side of the United States, insisting on the "maximum pressure" of North Korea until the country renounced its nuclear weapons program.

Today, the "maximum pressure" is practically disintegrated, while China and Russia have eased the application of sanctions and South Korea is enthusiastically talking about economic cooperation with the North. .

Thus, when Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono warned recently that sanctions should not be lifted before North Korea completely denuclearized, Pyongyang reacted with contempt. Tokyo scoffed at trying to block the "trend of the times".

"He was left alone in the region, considered a country of dirty politicians engaged in an abnormal vision of things and phenomena, anachronistic thinking and stupid and unseemly conduct," the official newspaper Rodong Sinmun wrote.

"Japan will be left forever as an isolated island country if it behaves like Don Quixote," the text adds.

North Korea had instituted a regime of fear based on the idea that an American invasion was imminent and that its newscast seized every opportunity to remind viewers of the terrible atrocities committed by the US military. during the Korean War.

That is to say until Kim prepares to meet Trump in Singapore in June.

Anti-American propaganda has largely disappeared from television and state media, and Trump is no longer labeled "mentally disturbed" or "pointer". Instead, Japan assumed the role of Public Enemy No. 1.

[Trump and Abe have bonded, but not over North Korea strategies]

This is partly because the regime needs a scapegoat for its own repressive regime and Japan is an easy target. It's also because Pyongyang regards Tokyo as an American puppet, which is not worth taking seriously at this stage of the negotiation process – even if it wants Japanese liquidity and investment to be lower, say the experts.

But there is another reason why Tokyo finds itself on the sidelines: the issue of kidnappings.

In the 1970s and 1980s, an undetermined number of Japanese citizens were abducted by North Korean agents and taken to North Korea, partly to teach Japanese language and culture to spies.

The issue has since inflamed public opinion and has become a favorite cause for conservative Japanese politicians, who still wear blue ribbon lapel badges in solidarity with affected families. And the man who defended this cause more than anyone else – and who has gained political power partly on the back – is Abe himself.

In 2002, Junichiro Koizumi, then Prime Minister of Japan, went to Pyongyang and managed to release five abductees. Japan says at least 12 others are still missing and rejects North Korea's claim that there is nothing left alive and the case is closed. Since 2002, both parties have dug their heels.

The sensitivity of the issue is such that Abe could not meet Kim that there was a strong indication that North Korea was ready to reopen the conversation about the abductees, said Jenny. Town, Korea specialist at the Stimson Center in Washington.

In the meantime, she says, Japan finds itself "at the base" of North Korean diplomacy, "in the end, will not be called anytime soon".

"In a way, Abe has put himself in a box," said Chris Hughes, a professor at the British University of Warwick. "The Japanese government has built a position a little difficult to remove."

To make matters worse, there is urgency. The father of one of Japan's teenage girls, 13-year-old Megumi Yokota, is sick. His mother writes sincere letters to his missing daughter, periodically published in the Sankei Shimbun newspaper.

Nevertheless, the negotiations are likely to unfold behind the scenes, Hughes said. The Washington Post reported on a secret meeting between Japanese and North Korean officials in Vietnam in July.

And the experts do not rule out the possibility of progress.

Sheila Smith, a senior researcher for Japanese studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, notes that Kim contacted Abe in 2014 on the issue of abductions. The initiative failed, but could potentially be relaunched, she said.

Hitoshi Tanaka, who conducted secret negotiations with Pyongyang during the Koizumi administration, said Tokyo would not be able to solve the kidnapping problem.

Instead, he must support US-led efforts to bring North Korea to denuclearize, he said, and then hold a credible investigation into the issue of kidnappings as part of a broader agreement including Japanese investments and aid.

"To solve this problem, we must be very scientific, we must be cool," he said.

In the meantime, Abe finds himself in a difficult situation.

Nakano, from Sophia University, argues that it is largely his fault.

"His strategy was to combine strongly with the United States and present himself as Northeast Asia's staunch partner against China and North Korea," he said. he declares. "But when Trump decided otherwise, he was badly caught. He still lives with the consequences, trying to make himself relevant again in the geopolitics of Northeast Asia. "

Akiko Kashiwagi in Tokyo and Min Joo Kim in Seoul contributed to the research.

Read more:

A massive surge in oil smuggling eased economic pressure on North Korea

Japanese abductee families in Trump: do not forget us

Japan calls for international aid as North Korea blocks kidnappings

The current coverage of postal correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay informed about foreign news