RESTRICTED
054042 MDLIAN 9992
"suffering".
He was finding it particularly difficult to keep seven parties together.
5. The Korean Peninsula: the two shared the view that the North Korea nuclear issue was a threat to peace and stability in the region and agreed to keep in close, co-operative touch both bilaterally and with the US in an attempt to resolve the problem. Hosokawa said (and Kim, YS concurred) that Japan wished to avoid drastic measures, including sanctions. Efforts at a dialogue with North Korea should be pursued with patience. Hokasawa said that as Long as the nuclear issue remained unresolved he would not consider Japan's opening official relations with North Korea. He promised to consult the ROK before acting on any signal or contact from the North Korean side.
6. Bilateral: Hosokawa made a very frank statement about his view of the past and the history of Japan and the ROK's bilateral links. Yoo said he expressed his regret and offered his very frank apology for the past to the Korean people. His remarks were warmly received by KYS who said one could not forget the past, but the two countries had too much to do together to remain prisoners to it. Yoo said it was significant that Hosokawa made his apology without any prepared text. There had been no suggestion in the preparations for the meeting that this would be raised (indeed Yoo said he was aware of minimalist defensive briefing by the Japanese MFA). The apology came as
as a surprise to Kim YS and had a very great effect.
7.
Economic/Trade Relations: Kim YS and Hosokawa evaluated the report submitted to heads of government by the ROK/Japan Forum on 1 November and agreed to implement its recommendations. They decided to set up a new economic co-operative body to monitor progress. It would be chaired at Assistant Minister Level. Kim YS referred to Japanese tariff and non-tariff barriers against ROK products and asked Hosokawa to give more opportunities in Japan to ROK construction companies.
8. Yoo said Hosokawa's response was very clear: Japanese business was suffering from a recession, but if there were any regulations which should be adjusted or removed, he would look into them personally. He had already asked Ministries to proceed with deregulation, but they had achieved nothing "because of their inherent egoism". He had therefore decided to handle deregulation himself through a unit in the Prime Minister's office. "If Japan
PAGE RESTRICTED
2
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.