Update: How Things Stand with regards to Kimland

In this post, I spoke of recent tensions between Japan and North Korea, with specific mention of Japanese people abducted to North Korea.

Now, the only dialogues anyone has had with the North Korean government lately have been in the form of six-nation summit meetings (Japan, the U.S., China, North Korea, South Korea, and Russia), intended to negotiate the cessation of North Korea's nuclear weapons program. These have largely been unproductive.

One of the main sticking points for Japan is the abductee issue. When DNA tests proved that the cremated remains that North Korea sent to Japan weren't those of Yokota Megumi, the Japanese government fired off an angry protest to Pyongyang, and people here began to call for economic sanctions against North Korea. Somehow, I find the idea of sanctions against a nearby neighbor with a nuclear weapons program and an...unstable...leadership to be somewhat troubling.

Aside: Apparently, a few years ago, Sakaiminato City (my current location) did a lot of trade with North Korea. Mainly fish and other seafood, from what I hear. Since trade with North Korea has been severely restricted in recent years, the population of this city has decreased, and many stores and other businesses stand empty.

Today, the North Korean embassy (in Bejing) finally responded to the complaint about the false remains. Their response: Since it is impossible to do DNA testing on remains that have been cremated at 1200 degrees Celsius, obviously the Japanese government has fabricated these results. (They're also demanding the return of the ashes.)

In a not-entirely-unrelated note, according to the "Visit to Kimland" travelogue linked to below, one of the reasons South Korea is wary of a quick reunification is because it will cost FAR too much money to bring North Korea up to the 21st century in terms of science, technology, and infrastructure. Many North Koreans literally can not comprehend this.

And finally, in a couple of weeks the Japanese national soccer team will play North Korea in a World Cup qualifying match. That should be interesting...