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© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Japan, N Korea hold 2nd day of abduction talks
PYONGYANG, North Korea©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
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Tamarama
God, that must be one of the most bizarre meetings you could possibly be involved in. There is no way they are going to be transparent and honest about it. It would be like sitting in a meeting and negotiating with characters from a parallel universe. North Korea and it's regime are certifiable. I can't see Japan getting what it wants here.
gelendestrasse
Even if the NK gave out honest information would anybody believe them? It's gotten to the point where they have no credibility.
WilliB
Smoke and mirrors. All that means is that NK needs and will get aid payments. In return, Japan will get some empty promises.
kaimycahl
Japan will get empty promises and may I add more broken dreams!
spbpb
North Korea has every reason to draw this out as long as possible. Whatever information they actually find is going to be bad for NK's image and could give Japan a legitimate claim for some kind of formal apology/remuneration. If it's true, kidnapping 800 citizens is huge. If you take all those cases together, it could be cause for war. Imagine what America might do if 800 of her citizens were kidnapped.
If NK was honest about only 13 being kidnapped (a big if), then they have nothing new to report anyway. The Japanese already believe that NK lied about 13, they aren't likely to accept the same number.
NK's best course is to ride out the lax sanctions until they inevitably go back up anyway.
If they were serious about mending relations, they'd let a Japanese team conduct their own unrestricted investigation.