ASIA: Asian nations welcome release of US journalists
Thu Aug 6 04:10:06 EST 2009
TOKYO, Aug 5 AP - South Korea, Japan and China have welcomed the release of two US journalists held by North Korea since March, with Beijing and Tokyo expressing hope that former US president Bill Clinton's trip to the communist nation would help restart nuclear disarmament talks.
After 140 days in custody, Euna Lee and Laura Ling were granted a pardon by North Korea, following a rare meeting between Clinton and the North's reclusive leader, Kim Jong Il. They had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for allegedly entering the country illegally.
South Korea welcomed their release and their safe return to their families, its foreign ministry said in a statement.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said China was happy that the issue had been resolved appropriately and called on all sides to renew efforts to restart the six-nation nuclear talks, Hong Kong-based Phoenix Satellite Television reported.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura also said Japan hoped the release would lead to progress in areas such as the nuclear negotiations, Kyodo News agency said.
North Korea announced earlier this year it was abandoning the talks involving the two Koreas, Japan, Russia, China and the US.
It launched a long-range rocket, conducted a nuclear test, test-fired a barrage of ballistic missiles and restarted its atomic program in defiance of international criticism and the UN Security Council.
Both Japan and South Korea said they had been informed of Clinton's trip beforehand.
South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper said in an editorial that the visit "must have come with the blessing of President Barack Obama".
"Obama has sent the most prominent American it was possible to send. The Clinton-Kim Jong Il meeting signals the effective launch of direct Washington-Pyongyang contacts. Official talks are just a matter of time," it said.
It said such direct talks should be welcomed if they lead to North Korea's denuclearisation and peace on the Korean peninsula.
"But if the process leads to the North being recognised as a nuclear power, we must resist it as strongly as we can," the newspaper said.
Some analysts in Japan speculated that the US may have made some kind of concession to North Korea in return for the journalists' release.
"It is difficult to believe North Korea has purely a humanitarian motive in mind," Shunji Hiraiwa, professor at the University of Shizuoka, told The Nikkei, Japan's top business daily.
Japan and South Korea said they hoped the journalists' release would also signal a change in North Korea's attitude toward the kidnapping and detention of their nationals.
Japan wants a fuller investigation into its citizens who were abducted by the North in the 1970s and 80s, while South Korea has demanded the release of five of its nationals reportedly held in the North.
