N. Korea Said Positive about Improving Ties with Japan

July 23, 2018

Seoul- The third son of the late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung believes that North Korea is more positive about improving its ties with Japan than before.

Kim Hong-gul, who visited North Korea for four days through Thursday, told a news conference in Seoul on Sunday that he hardly heard criticism of the United States from North Korean officials. The North Korean side did not condemn Japan unilaterally, Kim also said.

Kim quoted North Korean officials as saying that Pyongyang believes it can reconcile with Tokyo anytime soon if Japan stops taking a hostile stance and reflects on history.

The officials did not officially mention the issue of North Korea's abductions of Japanese citizens decades ago, he also said.

During his visit, Kim, who serves as permanent chairman of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, a group for aiding North Koreans, held talks with Kim Yong Dae, vice president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea, and others.

Kim Hong-gul and the North Korean officials agreed to cooperate for the return of the remains of people from the Korean Peninsula who were recruited by Japan during World War II.

Kim is expected to visit Japan as early as Sunday and hold a news conference to call for Japanese civic groups, the pro-Seoul Korean Residents Union in Japan, or Mindan, and the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon, to take part in the project for the return of the remains of Koreans. Jiji Press