Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said today his government will lift some of its sanctions on North Korea in response to Pyongyang's decision to create a committee to investigate the fate of at least a dozen Japanese who were abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.
Abe said he was satisfied the committee has the mandate to carry out a serious investigation into the abductions, though previous deals with the North have fallen through. Japan will continue to abide by UN-sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and missile programmes.
"We have determined that an unprecedented framework has been established, where an organisation that can make decisions at a national level ... Will be at the forefront of the investigations," Abe said.
"However, this is only a start. We are determined to do everything we can, with a renewed effort, toward a comprehensive resolution."
Abe's decision was to be formally approved by his Cabinet tomorrow, after the new committee holds its first meeting. The announcement follows a meeting between North Korean and Japanese negotiators in Beijing earlier this week.
After years of denial, North Korea acknowledged in 2002 that its agents had abducted Japanese to train its spies and eventually returned five of them. It said others Japan claimed were abducted had died or never entered the North.
Tokyo disputes that and wants an investigation into at least 12 abduction cases.Even that may not be enough, however.
Private organisations say hundreds of Japanese citizens were abducted, and suspect many may still be living in the North. Abe, who has made resolving the abductions issue one of his top political priorities, has vowed not to relent until all of the abductees are returned or accounted for.
Though Tokyo is as concerned about North Korea's nuclear program as its allies in Washington and Seoul, the abductions issue has for years been an added complication in its relations with the North, creating both strong anger among the Japanese public toward Pyongyang and also strong calls for some sort of agreement to bring any survivors home.
Although Pyongyang made a similar agreement in 2008 to investigate further, that deal fell through and relations between the countries have been virtually frozen since.
In addition to the UN sanctions, Japan unilaterally bans port calls by any North Korean-flagged vessels, all trade with North Korea and the entry into Japan of North Korean citizens.
Abe's decision will ease travel restrictions, allow port calls for humanitarian purposes and loosen requirements on reporting money transfers to the North.
