中山補佐官 自民党候補と して参院選出馬へ
夏の参議院選挙に向けて、拉致問題担当・中山恭子首相補佐官が、４日にも自民党の比例代表候補として出馬表明する見通しであることがわかった。
中山補佐官は現在、アメリカを訪問中で２日午後に帰国し、４日に安倍首相に帰国報告する予定で、その後、出馬表明をする見通し。
日テレNEWS24
脱北者か、青森で４人保護
警察当局によると２日午前４時ごろ、１１０番通報があり、青森県深浦町の港付近で、駆けつけた警察官が成人とみられる外国人男女４人の身柄を保護した。４人は国籍不明の小型船で港に着いたとみられ、県警は北朝鮮からの「脱北者」の可能性もあるとみて事情を聴くなどして調べている。
asahi.com：脱北者か、青森で４人保護 - 社会
Mending Fences (Editorial)
By The Irrawaddy
June 1, 2007
Kim Jong-il, the missile-toting cheerleader of one of the world’s most oppressive societies, grabbed headlines again in late April when his deputy foreign minister, Kim Yong-il, made an unpublicized visit to Burma to negotiate the renewal of diplomatic ties between Naypyidaw and Pyongyang.
In other contexts, such a move by two diplomatically alienated countries would be warmly welcomed by the international community. But not these two countries. When power-drunk dictators with large arsenals and hair-trigger tempers start cuddling, the rest of the world gets nervous.
Except China, of course, whose foreign ministry eagerly endorsed North Korea’s efforts to woo back its offended Burmese suitor. Unconfirmed reports from Rangoon suggest that Chinese officials may even have witnessed the official signing ceremony to mark the event.
But Washington, predictably, takes a different view, and Burma and North Korea will be closely observed by the US, a State Department official said.
Ties between Burma and North Korea came to a shuddering halt in 1983 when agents from Pyongyang launched a bomb attack on members of a visiting South Korean delegation, including then president Chun Doo-hwan, who escaped unharmed. Seventeen other ministers, as well as some Burmese officials, were not so lucky.
While Burma might expect some form of official apology for the attack, none has been forthcoming. Indeed, if the citizens of Burma were allowed to speak their minds openly, they would demand it.
Despite no formal diplomatic ties, Burma and North Korea have been holding hands under the table for years.
It is something of an open secret that junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe has long harbored nuclear ambitions, and Pyongyang is said by intelligence reports to have sold numerous conventional weapons and munitions to Burma over the last decade.
Western intelligence sources also say that Burma has expressed interest in acquiring long range ballistic missiles―something of a national export item for North Korea.
The potential transfer of technology between the two rogue states has many in Washington worried. China may be satisfied to continue its efforts to gently contain its naughty neighbors, but the West and Asean nations are not.
The move has touched several raw nerves as observers urge regional governments to monitor the situation closely.
Such concerns notwithstanding―and nearly a quarter-century after the fact―Burma deserves a formal apology for the brazen bomb attack, and its people need to be informed about why relations have been restored.
Likewise, the international community deserves greater transparency about why two of the world’s most secretive regimes have suddenly put their heads together and what they might have in mind.
The Irrawaddy News Magazine Online Edition