Unilateral Appeasement

Which would be worse, Hatoyama’s visit to Iran or Iijima’s visit to North Korea? An adviser to the Prime Minister, Isao Iijima, made a surprise visit to Pyongyang on Tuesday. During the visit, he plans to meet high officials of dictatorial regime led by Kim Jong-un. Officials of Japanese government, including PM Shinzo Abe, strangely shut their mouths about the visit, saying “No comment.” Considering the distasteful reaction of the United States and South Korea, the visit is supposedly a unilateral effort in the community against North Korea. This may erode Japan’s national interest.

After supporting PM Jun-ichiro Koizumi as a secretary for over thirty years, Iijima continued his political career taking advantage of his own relationship he had gotten in his close position to the Prime Minister. He is supposed to have close connection with some officials in North Korea, which was built in his experience to visit to Pyongyang in the delegation led by PM Koizumi. He is remembered as a secretary who distributed his friends a great amount of expensive matsutake mushroom gifted by the North then.

The government of Japan keeps silence. Diplomats in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also do so, indicating the information of Iijima’s visit has been provided with from decision makers. The silence implies that the decision was carefully and readily made.

PM Abe on Wednesday revealed that he was willing to meet with Kim Jong-un to make a breakthrough in the abduction issue. For Abe, the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea is an important political asset, with which he consolidated his position as a hardliner against the North. But, he did not mention the relationship of his willingness with the visit of Iijima.

It is sure that Abe has been annoyed with diplomatic stalemate. He has no leverage to improve diplomatic ties with China and South Korea, both of which were deteriorated by his own action as a conservative freak. His attitude as a revisionist also made matters worse with the United States. The meeting with Russian President, Vladimir Putin, ended with no achievement in the most important issue, the Northern Territory. Abe might found North Korea as one of few friends of him.

Abe had learned nothing from Koizumi’s failure in the decision to visit Pyongyang without informing US. Iijima’s visit is accused by US, South Korea and supposedly China, the countries which are making concerted efforts to put pressure to the North. North Korea may use Japan’s approach for its own benefit. Isolation from the community is making Japan’s diplomatic standpoint weak.