Koizumi gets four abductees' kids

PYONGYANG -- Five offspring of four repatriated Japanese abductees arrived in Tokyo on Saturday evening and were reunited with their parents after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi wrapped up his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang. Pool photos

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi wrap up their summit Saturday at the Taedong Kang guesthouse near Pyongyang.

The two offspring of freed abductees Kaoru and Yukiko Hasuike and the three children of Yasushi and Fukie Chimura arrived at Haneda airport aboard a Japanese government jet and were welcomed by their parents -- their first reunion since the abductees returned to Japan 19 months ago.

"I told them, 'You must have gone through a lot, you must have been worried,' and hugged them," Yasushi Chimura told a news conference in Tokyo after being reunited with his children.

He said that during their bus ride from the airport he explained to them parts of the course of events that led to this day.

However, repatriated abductee Hitomi Soga's husband, Charles Robert Jenkins, and their two daughters refused to come to Japan, citing fears that Jenkins -- an alleged U.S. Army deserter -- could be extradited and court-martialed by the U.S.

Koizumi said Japan will instead arrange for Jenkins, Soga and the two daughters to meet at an early date in a third country -- possibly China.

In a news conference following his summit with Kim, Koizumi said the North Korean leader promised a reinvestigation into 10 other Japanese abductees, eight of whom Pyongyang earlier claimed had died and two others the North said never entered the country. Japan will take part in the probe.

Kim agreed to launch a "full-scale investigation at the earliest date" and report the outcome to Japan, although he did not give a specific deadline, a senior Japanese official said.

As humanitarian aid, Japan will provide 250,000 tons of food to North Korea through an international organization and $ 10 million worth of medicinal supplies in the next month or two, the prime minister said.

Koizumi further noted that Japan has no intention of invoking economic sanctions against North Korea as long as the country respects the Pyongyang Declaration, which he and Kim signed in their September 2002 summit.

At right, the two sons and daughter of Yasushi Chimura (second from left) and his wife Fukie, (right), arrive at a Tokyo hotel after flying to Japan.

Earlier this year, the Diet enacted a law allowing the government to unilaterally impose sanctions on North Korea, including halting cash remittances to the North, and another bill has been submitted to the legislature that would allow Japan to bar North Korean ships from its ports.

Little progress was made on resolving North Korea's nuclear arms ambitions, with both leaders agreeing to make efforts to put forward the six-party framework dealing with the issue that includes North and South Korea, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia.

Koizumi urged Kim to abandon the North's nuclear weapons program, accept international inspections and return to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. But Kim did not offer any specific promise.

Kim replied that his goal is to have a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, and that he wants to work toward a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue under the six-party framework, according to Koizumi.

The North Korean leader promised to maintain a moratorium on missile test launches, Koizumi said.

Koizumi also urged North Korea to hand over a group of Japanese radicals wanted in the hijacking of a Japan Airlines jetliner to Pyongyang in 1970, according to government officials.

The biggest item on Koizumi's agenda in his second trip to Pyongyang, following the one in 2002, was to collect the families of the Hasuikes, Chimuras and Soga, who had to stay behind in Pyongyang when the five were allowed to return to Japan in October 2002. They had been abducted to the North in 1978.

During the talks, Kim told Koizumi that all of the abductees' families are free to travel to Japan, but added that it is up to Japan to make the arrangements, according to the prime minister.

Koizumi then talked with Jenkins, who was reportedly reluctant to come to Japan because of fears he could be court-martialed, and his two daughters to persuade them into joining Soga in Japan.

But the 64-year-old Jenkins, who was a U.S. Army sergeant when he allegedly deserted to the North while on patrol on the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone in 1965, and the daughters refused, he said.

"Mr. Jenkins expressed concern that he may be handed over to the U.S. if he comes to Japan," Koizumi reporters. "I told him that I will do my best so that the families can live together in Japan, but he did not seem convinced."

But Koizumi said Jenkins agreed when he proposed arranging for he and his daughters to reunite with Soga in a third country. Soga also agreed to the idea when the Foreign Ministry sounded her out on the plan in Tokyo, he added.

If Jenkins comes to Japan, Washington is expected to ask Tokyo to hand him over for a court-martial. Japan and the U.S. have a mutual extradition treaty.

In Washington, Kyodo News quoted a Pentagon official as saying that Jenkins remains subject to U.S. military justice over "extremely serious offenses."

Koizumi and Kim were unable to set a date for the next round of bilateral normalization talks -- another key goal of the summit.

He only said his visit would pave the way for a resumption of the talks, which have not been held since October 2002. He said the two sides will discuss the matter via working-level channels.

"I believe my visit to North Korea was meaningful," Koizumi said.

He brushed aside criticism that Japan is providing the 250,000 tons of rice as "compensation" to North Korea for allowing the five offspring to come to Japan. The government has offered 1.18 million tons of rice to North Korea since 1995, including the last provision of 500,000 tons in October 2000.

Speaking at a Tokyo hotel Saturday night to the kin of Japanese still missing, the prime minister said he realizes that some are dissatisfied with the outcome of the summit.

"The responsibility for everything lies with me," Koizumi said. "I will submit myself to the criticism."

But when he spoke to reporters after that meeting, Koizumi underscored the fact that the meeting had produced results.

"North Korea had said all along that the abduction issue has been resolved, but (today) it agreed to retract (its earlier findings) and relaunch an investigation (into the missing 10)," Koizumi said. "Matters should be seen in this context."

Koizumi's one-day trip to Pyongyang came 20 months after he made the historic visit to the reclusive state in September 2002.

The summit was seen as crucial for both leaders, with Koizumi wanting to show diplomatic leadership with the one-day visit, which was announced only a week ago amid a pension premium-nonpayment fiasco involving Koizumi, his Cabinet ministers and other lawmakers ahead of the House of Councilors election in July.

In the previous summit, Kim admitted for the first time that the North had kidnapped 13 Japanese nationals during the 1970s and 1980s.

While North Korea the following month allowed the Hasuikes, Chimuras and Soga -- the five it claimed were the only survivors -- to return to Japan, it says the other eight had died. The Japanese government and relatives of the others are not convinced and have demanded that North Korea provide further answers.

North Korea had also long dismissed Japan's demand to send the relatives of the five to Japan.