L'impatto Del Rapimento Di Cittadini Giapponesi Nelle Relazioni
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Corso di Laurea magistrale in Relazioni Internazionali Comparate Tesi di Laurea L’impatto del rapimento di cittadini giapponesi nelle relazioni diplomatiche tra Giappone e Corea del Nord Relatore Ch. Prof. Roberto Peruzzi Correlatrice Ch.ma Prof.ssa Rosa Caroli Laureando Barbara Medici Matricola 987587 Anno Accademico 2013 / 2014 ABSTRACT North Korea (or DPRK, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) and Japan are neighbor countries, so close and yet so far apart. In dealing with history, it is possible to see how the two states have intermingled: since the late 1800s there has been a close relation that eventually led to a protectorate and then to a colonial relationship between the two, where Japan was the colonialist country seeking to build an empire and North Korea, still part of the Korean Peninsula and not yet divided, was the colony exploited by the Japanese. Korea’s status as a colony was particularly significant after the outbreak of the Second World War, where Japan was defeated and the anti-imperialist forces began to fight back in order to free their land from the conquerors. The end of the war saw the occupation of Japan and its struggle after the Americans had used the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as a hope for independence and freedom in the whole Korean Peninsula. However, the hope of the Korean people was short-lived for the U.S and the Soviet Union planned a trusteeship that would lead Korea to independence step by step, allowing the peninsula to be rebuilt after the horrors of the war. The two superpowers occupied the northern and the southern part of the peninsula, dividing it in two different areas in order to be able to work in a better way and secretly control the other since it was slowly become the enemy. The outcomes of the trusteeship, which was supposed to only last a few years, can be still seen today: in 1948 the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) were born after separate elections had been held. From that moment on, the peninsula has been divided and not yet reunited. The aim of this thesis is to analyze one aspect of the context previously explained, that is the relations in the northeast Asian region between North Korea and Japan, two countries that have interacted so much in the past and are still dealing with important issues but haven’t normalized the diplomatic relations yet. In the 1950s and 1960s the relations between the two states were surprisingly better than the ones Japan had with South Korea: this, however, didn't lead to good bilateral relations and agreements because of an event that, once discovered, defined Japan’s North Korean policy and is still seen as the main problem that needs to be solved for them to settle the diplomatic relations. The issue that the have kept the two states far apart is the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Koreans occurred from the mid-1970s and the beginning of the 1980s. When the abductions were first discovered, the police suspected that North Korea could be behind them, but the connection with the communist country only arrived around the 1990s. North Korea always denied the accusations, saying i that Japan was just trying to avoid the compensations required by the Korean leader for the thirty-five years of occupation. As a matter of fact, starting from the 1990 North Korea and Japan have held different rounds of negotiations in order to find an agreement to normalize the diplomatic relations, but each round ended up in the same way since they couldn’t find a deal that would benefit to the both of them. The insistent Japanese requests to shine some light on the abductions eventually led to the extraordinary confession of Kim Jong Il in 2002, during the first travel ever that a Japanese Prime Minister had done to Pyongyang. The North Korean leader apologized for the abductions, recognizing that thirteen Japanese citizens had indeed been abducted by North Korea, adding that five of them were still alive and well while eight had died. The statement was meant to settle the discussion and end it, therefore giving the possibility to the two countries to move forward in the negotiations to normalize the diplomatic relations. The Japanese, however, were shocked to learn about the death of fellow citizens and appalled that North Korea had been keeping the secret for so long: the right wing of the government strongly demanded actions against North Korea in order to have a full disclosure on what had happened as well as demanding the return of those who were still alive. The already tense situation that existed between the two countries became worse: the abduction issue became the first and main problem in Japan’s foreign policy and the lack of settlement was directly linked to the expansion of the gap between Tokyo and Pyongyang. The first chapter therefore deals with the historical context previous to the abductions issue, reporting how the relations between the two countries developed from the late 1800s until 2002, the year of Kim Jong Il’s confession. The second chapter takes the topic further, dealing with the history of the abductions issue and the consequences on Japan’s policy and Japan’s attitude towards North Korea. Once the Dear Leader acknowledged the abductions, the Japanese public opinion pushed for the introduction of sanctions, also asking for a pursuit of a hard line when negotiating with North Korea. The abductions were carried out during the Cold War and the citizens who where kidnapped were mainly used to teach Japanese to Korean spies and to steal the identities so that the spies could travel freely everywhere using a Japanese passport. The consequences of the discovery of the death of eight of the abducted citizens led the Japanese government to halt all the negotiations regarding other topics, wanting to settle the abduction issue first. This, however, has resulted in a stalemate in the already difficult relations between the two countries: North Korea sees the Japanese decision as a tool to avoid the payment due as a compensation for the atrocities during the colonial period. At the same time, Pyongyang refused to collaborate with Tokyo stating that the issue had been solved with the confession and the apologies of Kim Jong Il. Koizumi, the Japanese ii Prime Minister until 2006, did indeed try to close the case, but only succeeded in bringing back the five people who were still alive and their families. A man who was appointed as the main actor among the Japanese hard liners was Abe Shinzo, a politician who was elected after Koizumi and whose prestige was directly linked to the abduction case: he was the one who fought alongside with the families of the victims and who was supported by the public opinion. Moreover, Abe was the one who made it his goal to work for the solution of the abduction issue and the internationalization that eventually led to the involvement of the United States as Japan’s major ally. This is, in fact, the topic of the third chapter – that is, how the different governments of the United States dealt with the abduction issue. There is a great difference among the responses of the Clinton and the Bush administrations, not to mention the way Obama decided to intervene. While Bill Clinton aimed to pursue a more conciliatory line towards North Korea, separating terrorism and abductions much to Japan’s annoyance, the coming into power of George W. Bush completely diverted Clinton’s ideas going for a hard line that greatly satisfied the conservative Japan. The last few years have seen a new stalemate in the relations between North Korea and Japan as well as the re-election of Abe Shinzo, determined more than ever to finally solve the problem of the abduction issue once and for all: in 2014 the stalemate has been broken and a Special Committee has been formed to conduct new investigations on the abduction issue in Pyongyang. Since 2002, solving the abduction issue has been the main point in Japan’s foreign policy and something that stopped the diplomatic relations between the two countries to be normalized. Neither of the states trust the other and even if the resolution seems near one question still stand: how and when will Japan consider the issue solved? Japan still thinks that some of the victims are alive in North Korea because of the poor and confused proofs that North Korea has provided. If the new Committee will be able to close the case and give Japan substantial proof of the death of the eight citizens, what could the Japanese reaction be? The expectations of Tokyo could be too high and differ from the results of the investigations, therefore leaving the problem still intact. There would probably be no changes in the situation since Japan will more likely never be fully satisfied with the fallouts of the abduction issue, hence creating a condition of instability due to the abnormal relation between North Korea and Japan. If the abductions issue is to be successfully solved before normalizing the diplomatic relations with North Korea, than Japan will need to adjust its expectations and cooperate with Pyongyang in order to create a new stability in the Northeast Asian region. In turn, North Korea will also have to cooperate and understand the importance of the abduction issue for Japan. Only then the bilateral relations will get better. iii INDICE INTRODUZIONE .............................................................................................................................................. 2 CAPITOLO 1 .....................................................................................................................................................