Chronologies
Japan - Korea
Chronology from Apr 2002 to Jul 2002
: ROK President Kim Dae-jung attends World Cup finals in Yokohama, Japan; they are followed by a two-day summit with Prime Minister Koizumi.
: Japanese Coast Guard ships guard site in the East China Sea as operations begin to raise the sunken alleged DPRK ship.
: Japanese private fact-finding delegation with regard to atomic bomb survivors leaves for the DPRK.
: TCOG meeting in San Francisco.
: DPRK Agricultural Minister Kim Chang-sik condemns Japan at UN World Food Summit for withholding food aid.
: ROK presidential spokeswoman congratulates Japan on its team’s first World Cup soccer victory against Russia.
: North Korean Central News Agency releases statement criticizing controversial remarks by Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda on Japan’s nonnuclear principles.
: JDA chief Nakatani proposes new forum of Asia-Pacific defense ministers that could meet regularly to discuss regional security issues.
: ROK civic groups hold protests over controversial remarks Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda stating that Japan could in theory reconsider its three nonnuclear principles.
: PM Koizumi attends World Cup opening ceremony in Seoul, meets President Kim Dae-jung.
: Japanese Prince Takamado, along with his wife, Princess Hisako, arrive in the ROK to attend the May 31 World Cup opening ceremony in Seoul, the first official visit to the ROK by a member of the Japanese Imperial family since World War II.
: Japanese Diet unanimously approves extradition treaty with the ROK.
: The five DPRK asylum-seeker removed from the Japanese consulate in Shenyang leave Beijing via the Philippines for asylum in the ROK.
: In a meeting between Masaaki Ono, chief of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s consular and immigration department and his PRC counterpart, the PRC refuses to had over the five DPRK citizens it detained from the Japanese consulate in Shenyang.
: Japanese media reports reveal that the staff at the Japanese consulate in Shenyang were under standing orders from the ambassador to seek PRC police help in expelling any unauthorized introduers.
: ROK announces it is willing to grant refuge to the five DPRK asylum-seekers detained by the PRC police at a Japanese consulate.
: The ROK Ministry of Justice announces that from May 15 to July 15, South Koreans traveling to Japan will be able to get a 30-day visa on entry and not have to pre-apply at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.
: Japan lodges protests with the PRC over the police’s entering the Japanese mission in Shenyang without authorization to remove two North Koreans.
: PRC police intervene in an attempt by DPRK citizens who rushed the Japanese consulate in Shenyang.
: Jon Jong-hyok, secretary general of the (North) Korean Atomic Bomb Victims Association for Anti-Nuclear Peace, says he will ask Japan for help to build a hospital to treat A-bomb survivors now residing in North Korea.
: The Japan Coast Guard begins an underwater survey of a suspected DPRK spy ship that sank in the East China Sea.
: Japan-DPRK Red Cross talks end. The DPRK agrees to resume searches for missing Japanese whom Tokyo alleges were kidnapped by the DPRK. The two sides also agreed to a fourth round of home visits by Japanese spouses living in the DPRK this summer.
: A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan states that the PRC will supervise Japan’s investigation of the alleged sunken DPRK ship in the East China Sea.
: The DPRK Foreign Ministry strongly condemns Koizumi’s visit to Yasukuni Shrine.
: Panel for the preparation of a joint history research committee holds inaugural meeting in Seoul.
: At celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the ROK-Japan Friendship Association, PM Koizumi pledges concerted efforts to promote relations between the ROK and Japan in light of the upcoming 2002 FIFA World Cup soccer finals.
: PM Koizumi visits Yasukuni Shrine.
: Japan’s Defense Agency head Gen Nakatani meets with ROK Prime Minister Lee Han-dong and National Defense Minister Kim Dong-shin to explain legislation recently submitted to the Diet to prepare Japan for a military emergency.
: Japan and the DPRK announce Red Cross talks in Beijing scheduled for April 29 and 30. It will be the first meeting between the two countries since the March 2000, the last Red Cross meeting.
: Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda Yasuo announces that the Japanese Red Cross is seeking talks with the DPRK later this month on the issue of abducted Japanese nationals.
: PM Koizumi says that he will seek the PRC’s help in settling allegations that the DPRK abducted Japanese citizens.
: Japan’s Parliament passes a resolution urging the government to take a “resolute stance” against the DPRK on the abductions issue.
: Tokyo Shimbun reports that a senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official predicts an imminent restarting of Red Cross talks with the DPRK. The Red Cross talks have been suspended since March 2002.
: ROK Foreign Minister Choi Sung-hong expresses concern over “distorted” Japanese textbooks reportedly approved this week by the Japanese education ministry for use in high schools, which refer to the disputed Tokdo/Takeshima islets as belonging to Japan.
: The World Food Program announces that North Korea will suffer a severe food crisis by the middle of the year. Japan, the biggest food donor last year with a contribution of 500,000 tons, has withheld food aid due to public opposition.
: Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) meeting in Tokyo in the aftermath of ROK special envoy Lim Dong-won’s mission to Pyongyang to restart inter-Korean dialogue.
: Japan and the ROK sign a criminal extradition pact to take effect before the 2002 World Cup finals begin May 31.