The latest meeting of Japanese and North Korean Red Cross officials, held in Beijing this week to discuss the long-pending issue of the alleged abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korean agents, ended on a positive note. The North Korean side confirmed they had resumed the search for the "missing persons." And the two sides agreed to hold the next meeting around June. They also agreed to let Japanese wives of North Koreans resume home visits this summer.
None of this warrants optimism, however. The issue is simply back to where it was before December 2001, when North Korea unilaterally called off the search. In a joint statement issued at the end of the two-day meeting, North Korea said it will conduct a search, promptly inform Japan of the results and take "necessary steps." But no breakthrough was made toward clarification of the kidnapping allegations. Prospects for the safe return home of the Japanese involved remain as dim as ever.
This issue remains a major obstacle to the normalization of Japan-North Korea relations. Pyongyang should make serious efforts to settle this essentially humanitarian problem. If it does, the Beijing meeting, held for the first time in about two years amid new developments in the case, will have marked a major milestone in the Tokyo-Pyongyang dialogue.