North Korea's acknowledgment of its involvement in the kidnappings of Japanese nationals marks a major milestone in the off-and-on normalization talks between Tokyo and Pyongyang that began in 1991. With the negotiations resuming next month, following Tuesday's summit agreement between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the two nations are now closer than at any time since 1945 to improving their hostile relationship.
The road to reconciliation will be tortuous. The minimum necessary condition is that North Korea never again commit similar acts of inhumanity against Japanese citizens. The challenge for Japan is to conduct a broader range of diplomatic activities to help promote regional interests in and around the Korean Peninsula.
The abductions took place "in the course of abnormal Japan-North Korea relations," as the Pyongyang declaration states. More specifically, the incidents resulted from North Korea's Cold War strategy that placed heavy emphasis on the military. In fact, many South Koreans are also listed as "missing," allegedly because of state-sponsored terrorism in that era.