North Korea to seek U.N. airing of Japan dispute

North Korea to seek U.N. airing of Japan dispute

Claudia Parsons
Reuters

Thursday, July 19, 2007

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea on Friday will ask the United Nations to take up its complaint over what it calls a "fascist search" of a pro-North Korean group in Tokyo, a Japanese diplomat said.
The dispute, with roots in abductions of Japanese by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, comes as Tokyo and Pyongyang are engaged in six-party talks to end North Korea's nuclear arms ambitions.
Japan's Deputy Ambassador Takahiro Shinyo said on Thursday Tokyo strongly denied allegations of discrimination and targeting Koreans in Japan that were outlined in a letter about the search and other complaints distributed by North Korea at the United Nations this month.
Shinyo said North Korea had requested the issue be placed on the agenda of the U.N. General Assembly for discussion as an issue affecting peace and security. A committee that drafts the agenda will hear arguments from both sides on Friday.
The raid controversy is linked to a dispute over the fate of abductees kidnapped from Japan to help train spies from communist North Korea in Japanese language and culture.
The North Korean abductions are an emotive subject in Japan, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shot to political fame by helping the families of the victims.
In April, Japanese police searched the premises of three facilities linked to the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, known as Chongryon, in Tokyo.
The search was part of an investigation into the abduction of two children more than three decades ago, Shinyo said.
Pyongyang described the raid as a fascistic in excerpts of North Korea's complaint provided by the Japanese embassy. North Korea also complained about the forced sale of property belonging to the organization.
"The Abe group's anti-Chongryon campaign has reached such a reckless and hideous phase that it can never be tolerated," the North Korean Embassy said in a statement earlier this month.
Shinyo said the sale was the routine result of bankruptcy procedures.
He dismissed the North Korean allegations as "fabrication," but said it was not clear how the committee would decide on the petition to have the General Assembly discuss the issue.
"We think it's not pertinent, it's not proper to discuss such issues in the General Assembly," Shinyo said.
The current six-party talks on denuclearization have brought together North and South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China since 2003. North Korea last week closed its Yongbyon nuclear complex as part of a February agreement.

© Reuters 2007