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    Japan
     Jun 13, 2006
Japan's trade with North Korea dwindles

TOKYO - Japan's trade with North Korea more than halved last year from three years ago, due mainly to strained ties between the two countries, a Japanese newspaper reported Saturday.

Two-way trade amounted to 21.4 billion yen (US$188 million) in 2005, down from 45.9 billion yen in 2002, the Mainichi Shimbun said, quoting a report by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).

Japan's trade with North Korea has been steadily declining in recent years, dropping by as much as 15 billion yen in 2003 alone.

The amount for the first four months of the year came to a mere 6



billion yen, indicating that the total volume for all of this year may plunge to a record low.

Japan buys mostly fisheries products, minerals and men's clothing from North Korea, while shipping transportation and logistics equipment, such as trucks and automobiles.

JETRO attributed the drop to Tokyo's frayed ties with Pyongyang, caused by North Korea's unwillingness to resolve disputes over its admitted abduction of Japanese citizens.

Japan's new shipping law, which blocks non-insured ships with capacity of 100 tons or larger from docking at local ports, has also caused the two-way trade to drop, Mainichi quoted the report as saying.

"While the decline can become a drag to North Korea, it is not a big factor for Japan, whose trade with South Korea and China is on the rise," said Hajime Izumi, a North Korean affairs expert at Shizuoka University.

In 2002, North Korea admitted to kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens to train its spies in Japanese language and culture. It then allowed five abductees to return home, arguing that the eight others died.

Japan, however, wants the North to provide firmer evidence to prove the fate of the eight others. Many Japanese believe that some of those North Korea said were dead may actually be alive.

(Asia Pulse/Yonhap)

 

 
 



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