philemmons
02-19-07, 03:04 PM
SEOUL, South Korea -
North Korea condemned the Japanese government on Monday for what it called a crackdown on expatriate North Koreans amid concerns the group may have a role in the communist state's nuclear and chemical weapons program.
The condemnation of the Chongryon — the residents' group of North Koreans living in Japan — comes amid a Japanese crackdown on illegal trade with North Korea, following the North's missile launches in July and its nuclear test in October.
In August, Japanese police arrested a pro-North Korean resident in Japan for allegedly exporting machinery to the North that could be used to make biological weapons.
A statement from North Korea's Foreign Ministry called the actions a "brutal political suppression" and an "unpardonable infringement upon the sovereignty of our country and an unprecedented crime against humanity."
It also said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe "will have to pay dearly for this" but did not elaborate. The North's Foreign Ministry accused Abe of seeking to destroy Chongryon for political gain.
About 600,000 ethnic Koreans live in Japan, most of whom are descendants of people who moved here voluntarily or as forced labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. About 200,000 are affiliated with Pyongyang.
Earlier this month at six-party talks on ending its nuclear program, North Korea agreed to shut down its main nuclear complex within 60 days and disable all its nuclear facilities in exchange for receiving the equivalent of up to 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil and political incentives from the United States and other regional powers.
Japan, which has been at odds with North Korea over its abductions of Japanese citizens, refused to chip in energy aid for North Korea until progress is made on resolving the abduction issue.
North Korea has acknowledged kidnapping 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 80s. It allowed five to return home in 2002, saying the other eight were dead.
The North has insisted that the issue of the abductees has been resolved. But Japan has demanded proof and says more of its citizens may have been taken and are still alive.
North Korea condemned the Japanese government on Monday for what it called a crackdown on expatriate North Koreans amid concerns the group may have a role in the communist state's nuclear and chemical weapons program.
The condemnation of the Chongryon — the residents' group of North Koreans living in Japan — comes amid a Japanese crackdown on illegal trade with North Korea, following the North's missile launches in July and its nuclear test in October.
In August, Japanese police arrested a pro-North Korean resident in Japan for allegedly exporting machinery to the North that could be used to make biological weapons.
A statement from North Korea's Foreign Ministry called the actions a "brutal political suppression" and an "unpardonable infringement upon the sovereignty of our country and an unprecedented crime against humanity."
It also said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe "will have to pay dearly for this" but did not elaborate. The North's Foreign Ministry accused Abe of seeking to destroy Chongryon for political gain.
About 600,000 ethnic Koreans live in Japan, most of whom are descendants of people who moved here voluntarily or as forced labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. About 200,000 are affiliated with Pyongyang.
Earlier this month at six-party talks on ending its nuclear program, North Korea agreed to shut down its main nuclear complex within 60 days and disable all its nuclear facilities in exchange for receiving the equivalent of up to 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil and political incentives from the United States and other regional powers.
Japan, which has been at odds with North Korea over its abductions of Japanese citizens, refused to chip in energy aid for North Korea until progress is made on resolving the abduction issue.
North Korea has acknowledged kidnapping 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 80s. It allowed five to return home in 2002, saying the other eight were dead.
The North has insisted that the issue of the abductees has been resolved. But Japan has demanded proof and says more of its citizens may have been taken and are still alive.