North Korea, which has been in a confrontational stance with South Korea since the start of the new year through coastal artillery training sent a message of condolence to Japan over the recent earthquake. This move is interpreted as North Korea’s intention to maintain relations with the international community, excluding South Korea.
On the 6th, North Korean state media reported that Kim Jong Un sent a condolence message to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the 5th. According to the report, Kim used respectful language in his message to ‘Mr. Fumio Kishida’.
Kim stated, “Upon hearing the unfortunate news of the significant loss of life and material damage in Japan due to an earthquake at the start of the new year, I express my deepest sympathy and condolences to you and through you, to the bereaved families and the victims. I hope that the people in the affected areas can overcome the earthquake’s aftermath as soon as possible and return to a stable life.”
In response to this, on the 6th, Yoshihide Hayashi, the Minister of Defense, expressed his gratitude for Kim’s condolence message during a press conference, as reported by Kyodo News. The report noted that there have been no recent instances of North Korea’s supreme leader sending a message of condolence to the Japanese Prime Minister including after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
During the 2011 earthquake, a condolence message was sent to the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) in the name of Kim Yong-nam, the then Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly. Also, during the 1955 Kobe earthquake, Prime Minister Kang Seong-san sent a message of condolence to Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama.
In response to a question about whether he would send a reply to Kim’s message of condolence, Minister Hayashi said, “We are currently focusing all our efforts on disaster response, and we are not responding to messages from leaders of other countries at this time,” according to the report.
The report described Kim’s actions as “unprecedented” for the supreme leader of North Korea to send such a message to the Prime Minister of Japan, a country with which it does not have diplomatic relations.
The report also noted that North Korea’s party newspaper published this message on its second page, alongside a message of condolence sent by Kim to Iran regarding a terrorist attack that occurred at the memorial service for Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
The report mentioned that “the newspaper also reported on the earthquake in the Noto Peninsula and its aftermath on the 4th and 5th,” indicating North Korea’s interest in Japan.
The report also highlighted that Prime Minister Kishida has repeatedly expressed his willingness to engage in dialogue with North Korea to resolve the issue of abductees. In fact, on May 27th of last year, Prime Minister Kishida expressed his willingness to meet with Kim Jong Un to resolve the issue. Two days later on the 29th, Park Sang-gil, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Korea, responded that there was no reason not to meet leading to speculation of behind-the-scenes contact between the two sides.
The report stated, “Prime Minister Kishida aims to resolve the issue of abducted Japanese citizens and to realize high-level consultations for a North Korea-Japan summit.” However, it cautiously predicted that “the outlook for the resumption of North Korea-Japan dialogue remains uncertain as the message is largely ceremonial in nature.”
By. Jae Ho Lee
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