By Chung Min-uck
Seoul criticized Tokyo Thursday for dispatching an envoy to North Korea voicing concerns that the visit could undermine efforts to forge a coordinated approach toward Pyongyang.
Without prior notice to South Korea, Isao Iijima, an adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, arrived in Pyongyang spawning speculation that Japan might be trying to mend broken fences with the North, while South Korea, the U.S., recently even China, are making efforts to punish North Korea for conducting its third nuclear test in February by imposing sanctions.
"It is important to maintain close coordination, among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, toward North Korea," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young in a media briefing. "In that sense, we think that the visit by Iijima to North Korea is unhelpful."
It is rare for Seoul to publicly criticize Tokyo over North Korean issues.
Through a diplomatic channel on Wednesday, Cho said, Japan notified South Korea that Iijima is on a visit to North Korea and expressed "regrets" over its late notice.
Iijima's mission in North Korea is unclear, but he is said to have helped arrange former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's trips to Pyongyang for talks with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2002 and 2004.
Seoul criticized Tokyo Thursday for dispatching an envoy to North Korea voicing concerns that the visit could undermine efforts to forge a coordinated approach toward Pyongyang.
Without prior notice to South Korea, Isao Iijima, an adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, arrived in Pyongyang spawning speculation that Japan might be trying to mend broken fences with the North, while South Korea, the U.S., recently even China, are making efforts to punish North Korea for conducting its third nuclear test in February by imposing sanctions.
"It is important to maintain close coordination, among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, toward North Korea," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young in a media briefing. "In that sense, we think that the visit by Iijima to North Korea is unhelpful."
It is rare for Seoul to publicly criticize Tokyo over North Korean issues.
Through a diplomatic channel on Wednesday, Cho said, Japan notified South Korea that Iijima is on a visit to North Korea and expressed "regrets" over its late notice.
Iijima's mission in North Korea is unclear, but he is said to have helped arrange former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's trips to Pyongyang for talks with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2002 and 2004.
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