"CEAC Commentary" introduces news analyses andopinions in Japan on the concept of an East AsianCommunity, but they do not represent the views ofCEAC as an institution.

November 25, 2008

No Independent State Tolerates Abduction of its
Citizens
By HANAOKA Nobuaki
It came as no surprise that the United States has removed North Korea from the list ofstate sponsors of terrorism. Two months' delay of the removal, originally scheduled for thisAugust, carries no political implications. Some people in Japan quite naively regard this delay asa sign of solicitude of the US towards Japan in relation to the abduction issue. But this is wide ofthe mark. Rather, we should assume that the abduction issue has been no concern of the US fromthe outset. Government officials of Japan, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, must havebeen aware of this fact. The removal was to be carried out sooner or later. If Japan could havelead the US to give it a second thought by every political and diplomatic means, Japan should
deserve due credit for its "hidden strength." Of course, this is not the case. Here lie the politicalresponsibilities of the Japanese government. It might have given the Japanese public a wrong
message that the US would not remove North Korea from the list, as long as the abduction issue
remains unsolved. In fact, it was quite the other way around. For all the member states in thesix-party talks other than Japan, their immediate concern was North Korea’s nuclear weapon andmissiles. While expressing sympathy and regret to the issue, they hold in their heart that theabduction issue is a bilateral problem between Japan and North Korea, which is to be solved bythemselves.
The Japanese government should frankly acknowledge the fact. So far, it has neglected
to explain to the nation the harsh reality that the removal of North Korea from the list has indeed
little to do with the abduction issue. The Japanese government has glossed over this reality anddid an abrupt backflip in the face of the removal. This kind of attitude would seriously
undermine the public's confidence in politics. The bottom line is that the abduction issue is not
the most immediate concern for countries other than Japan. To them, containment of North
Korea's nuclear weapon and missiles was the most prioritized issue. If so, Japan should tackle
the abduction issue on its own. Foreign agents infiltrated the Japanese border and abducted alarge number of innocent Japanese citizens. This is nothing but the epitome of a state crime thatinfringes Japanese sovereignty. No independent state tolerates this enormity. It is by right a dutyof an independent sovereign state to dispatch a commando unit to perform a special mission torecapture the abductees. Japan has, as it seems, abandoned this option in the first place.
Japan has failed in its task to protect the lives and property of its citizens. As theAssociation of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea points out, the abduction
issue is "an ongoing terrorism." Setting aside the promise to conduct reinvestigation onabduction, North Korea has not even tried to establish an investigation committee on the1

abduction. Prime Minister ASO Taro expressed his discomfort with the US government at theHouse of Councilor's Budget Committee. There is a slight change in his attitude compared to theway he reacted when he first received the report of the removal of North Korea from the list.
The Japanese government should be accused of its lack in foresight as it was not prepared,
though amid the turbulence of domestic politics, to react when the US should remove NorthKorea from the list. If we are deprived of the option to resort to force, what could be done
instead? Japan has no choice but to reinforce the sanction policy in its own right. Japan should
not go hand in hand with other countries in providing energy assistance to North Korea. Theabduction issue poses a fundamental question upon raison d'etre of a sovereign state.
(This is the English translation of an article written by Mr. HANAOKA Nobuaki,Journalist, which originally appeared on the BBS “Hyakka-Somei” of CEAC on November
6, 2008)2