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A country stripped naked by its own action

MONZURUI. Huq writes from Tokyo
JAPAN'S relationship with North Korea had never been an easy one. During the long Cold War period the two adversaries were locked In verbal battles, in which North Korea was always on the offensive by accusing Japan for its misdeeds in Korean Peninsula during the period of its subjugation that lasted from the .beginning of Japan’s colonial aspirationin 1910untiltheendofWarldWar II. During the period of war of words, tensions in times spilled over the limits of being mere verbal as the Japanese territory was also turned into action ground that have seen North Korean agents periodically abducting Japanese nationals and whisking them off without leaving behind any trace at all. North Korea at the time seemed to have an upper hand in the game as it enjoyed vital support of both China and the Soviet Union. Moreover, the centrally planned economy of the country also looked to be functioning pretty well, as North outmaneuvered its Southern rival in most of the economic and social Indicators.
But the world situation has changed radically since the collapse of theSoviet Union in 1991.The magical power of communism ever since is on tire wane and as we know, many former socialist allies of the Soviet Union has sine then discarded the idealism to embrace the new magical charm associated these days with the word market economy. The proponents of mercantile economyprefer to call the practice 'globalization', as the word is less tainted by many of the darker sides of market business. Countries that decided to opt out of this age-old practiced defined in a newly coined term have done so by
paying a huge price that eventually dragged their economies almost to the rock bottom. North Korea is a glaring example of this reality. No wonder that the wonderland of 1970s has now turned out to be a famine stricken country that too, like our own Monga hit territory, in time has to depend on vital food aid coming from the World Food Program and other soup kitchen agencies.
But this periodic crisis no doubt has failed to have its impact on those who run the country as an inherited fiefdom and impose their will on people who are compelled to remain in a world drifting far apart from the reality. As a result, there is an urgent need for the regime to look at its past glory to justify its existence in leading the nation onward to a brighter future. North Korea also seems to be a glaring example of doing that in a meaningful way to silence dissents at home.
When North Korean supreme leader Kim II Sung died in mid-1990s, many predicted an automatic dissolution of the country like that of East Germany within a short period of time. But that didn't happen even in mid-term calculation too, and the North Korean leadership looks much more confident than the early stage of its transition form the period of Kim II Sung to that of his son and successor Kim Jong IU.
Japan was among the group of countries that most likely expected a slow decline and eventual fall of the regime in Pyongyang. As a result, there always was a slow going attitude within the Japanese leadership concerning North Korea. Moreover, the democratization of South Korea also called for a much cautious attitude as any wrong move could have jeopardize whatever gain Japan had made in mending ties with Seoul, which also
nurtures apast bitterness experienced duringjapanese occupation.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is the first Japanese leader who fell a strong urge to break the impasse by trying to improve ties with Pyongyang. This was also partially necessary for Japan as there was a growing pressure within the country to solve the riddle of abduction of a number of Japanese nationals in 1970s. During his first summit meeting with the North Korean leader in Pyongyang in 2002, North Korean leadership for the first time admitted country's involvement in abducting Japanese citizens and offered its full cooperation in solving | the problem.
fyongyang had admitted that its agents abducted 13 Japanese and eight among them have died long ago. Since then five along with their family members have returned and settled in Japan. The last being the Family of Hitomi Soga, whoso American husband faced a possible US court martial fordesertingtheUS army while servingin South Korea in 1960s and taking asylum in the North. He too now has come clean of tire court martial and joined his family in the peaceful settings of Sado Island off the coast of I Niigata. But one stumbling block that | eventually pushed too countries back i to their own earlier positions was that , of a mystery surrounding the fate of the Japanese citizen Megumi Yokota. | who was kidnapped in fate 1970s on her way back from school
North Korea initially said she committed suicide in March 1993, but later changed the date to April 1994.
The parents of Megumi are leading members of a group involved in creating pressure on the Japanese government to take a tougher stand against North Korea to force the country to reveal the truth about all the mysteries surrounding the fare of missing abducted Japanese. They still believe that their daughter is alive and the regime in Pyongyang is unwilling to disclose anything about her out of fear that she might reveal everything related to abduction.
During the last round of working level bilateral talks between Japan and North Korea held in Pyongyang
earlier this month, the North Korean side offered the remains of Megumi Yokota as a token of goodwill gesture, and the remains were handed over to the Japanese delegation by the person who was introduced as the husband of Megumi. He explained that as he wanted to keep the memory of his deceased wife closer to him. he dug up her remains in 1996, had them cremated and kept the ashes and bones in a con-; tainer at'his home. In Japan forensic ■ specialists conducted DNA testing-1 of the remains and came to a conclusion that none of the DNA matched that of Megumi's.
North Korea's confession over the abduction issue had earlier helped softening Japanese stance against Pyongyang. But within Japan the strong rightist lobby was unhappy
and working hard to overturn whatever gain had been made in mending the fence between the two neighbors. They were always in search of a clue that would help them mobilize public support and the latest incident had no doubt provided them with more that, what they were expecting.
But the DNA farce has also exposed the nature of the regime in North Korea that has no hesitation at all in telling Ues on matters as serious as life and death, knowing pretty well that modem scientific advancement can' easily detect lie without much difficulty. As a result, the regime of Kim Jong ill is now roaming among the crowd without having any trace of clothing at all. And we know for sure, if anyone is to be blamed for that, it is none other than itself.