Because It Was Born This Way

Shinzo Abe administration keeps on persuading the public that the negotiation with North Korea over Japanese abductees is on the right track. After the meeting between high officials of both governments late October, the administration has been spreading information that Japanese government made a great effort in the negotiation. Why are they insisting on this issue, even making a gambling visit to Pyongyang against negative opinion of abductees’ families? That is because the administration was born this way.

Prime Minister Abe firmly believes in that abduction issue distinguishes his administration from any other administrations. With receiving appeals from those families for years, Abe revealed the existence of abduction by North Korean government when he was Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary in Jun-ichiro Koizumi administration. It was actually a ground breaking finding. With fundamental credit from Koizumi, Abe was promoted as a figure eligible for a Prime Minister.

But achieving final solution is not so easy as finding the problem. Abe was not successful at this issue in his first administration with pressuring policy toward Kim Jong-il regime. Although Abe seemed to have grabbed a chance, with softer attitude, to make a progress in young Kim Jong-un administration, the negotiation has stacked with lazy investigation on Japanese-Koreans by officials of the North.

The meeting late October was undeniably fruitless. While the North promised thorough investigation on Japanese in the country, there appeared no news on Japanese abductees. The chief of delegate, Jun-ichi Ihara, Bureau Chief of Asia-Pacific Affairs in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, revealed no information of the schedule for next meeting or of the first interim report on the investigation.

Reflecting disappointment on the outcome, the government started asserting that their attempts were not failing. Possibly with a leak from governmental officials, news agencies reported a story that Japanese government strongly required the North “persuasive evidence” on the investigation in the meeting last month. “We have been strongly requiring sincere investigation with honest manner and no fabrication,” told Abe in discussion in the House of Representatives.

Those assertions will not work for pressuring the North, rather revealing weaker standpoint of Abe. If no progress is made on abduction issue, it will erode credibility of Abe administration. Whether or not his mother told him that there was nothing wrong with loving who you were, his self-admiration as a leader determined on rescuing abductees makes Japanese standpoint weak.