日米韓首脳会談 核、拉致で連携強化が必要だ

(Mainichi Japan) November 25, 2008

Japan, U.S., South Korea need closer cooperation on nuclear, abduction issues

社説：日米韓首脳会談　核、拉致で連携強化が必要だ

In conjunction with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum convened in Peru, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, U.S. President George W. Bush, and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak held a trilateral summit where they agreed to work together to convene the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue in early December.

　アジア太平洋経済協力会議（ＡＰＥＣ）が開かれているペルーで行われた日本、米国、韓国の３首脳会談で、麻生太郎首相とブッシュ、李明博（イミョンバク）両大統領は北朝鮮の核問題をめぐる６カ国協議の１２月上旬開催を目指して調整を進めることで一致した。

The recent nuclear accord that the U.S. reached with North Korea has, unfortunately, too much wiggle room. On the one hand, North Korea says that it will not allow collection of samples that could be used to ascertain the quantity of plutonium that it has extracted as part of its nuclear program, while the U.S. asserts that North Korea had in fact consented to provide such samples. Their differences have emerged in part perhaps because their agreement was a verbal one.

　核問題に関する米朝合意にはあいまいな部分が少なくない。プルトニウム抽出量を追跡できるサンプル採取を北朝鮮は拒否しているが、米側は「合意されている」と反論している。食い違いが露呈するのは合意が口約束だったからだろう。

The stipulation in the U.S.-North Korean accord that mutual consent is required in order to enter undisclosed facilities also contributes to the ambiguity. That the North Korean government has recently declared expediently that the verification protocol will be confined to the nuclear facilities at Yongbyon, and that verification will only commence after the other five parties have fully extended their economic assistance may also be an outgrowth of the lack of clarity in the accord.

　米朝合意の甘さはほかにもある。たとえば、未申告施設への立ち入りには双方の同意が必要というのがそうだ。北朝鮮が最近、「検証対象は寧辺（ニョンビョン）の核施設のみ」とか「検証時期は他の５カ国による経済支援の終了後」などと勝手な主張をしているのも合意の甘さに起因する。

The bilateral talks between the U.S. and North Korea are setting the course of the effort to disable North Korea's nuclear facilities and adopt verification mechanisms, and for the most part the other four concerned parties have endorsed the points of agreement that the U.S. and North Korea have worked out. If the six-party talks will resume in the near future, all of the parties must ratify a strict verification mechanism that will not be a mere formality and close loopholes.

　核施設の無能力化や検証問題では米朝の２国間協議が先行し、両者の合意を他の参加国が追認するケースが多かった。６カ国協議が近く再開されるならば形だけでない厳格な検証体制を敷くことをすべての参加国が確認し、逃げ道をふさがなければならない。

We would like to commend the leaders of Japan, the U.S., and South Korea for agreeing on the need to put into writing the protocol for verifying North Korea's denuclearization efforts. The Bush administration's term will expire soon, so North Korea is probably trying to feel out the stance that will be adopted by the incoming Obama administration. That is why it is even more important that Japan, the U.S., and South Korea work in unison.

　その意味で、今回の３首脳会談が核検証に関する合意を文書化する必要性で一致したことを評価したい。米国が政権交代期にさしかかり、北朝鮮は新政権の出方を探っていることだろう。だからこそ、日米韓が足並みをそろえることが一層重要になってくる。

Separate from the trilateral summit, Prime Minister Aso and President Bush held a bilateral summit, during which President Bush gave his assurance that he was fully aware that (the abduction issue) is a "delicate problem," and that the new Obama administration will handle the issue properly.

　３首脳会談とは別に行われた日米首脳会談で、ブッシュ大統領は拉致問題について「デリケートな問題だと十分わかっている。オバマ新政権にもきちんと引き継ぐ」と述べた。

At working-level talks on the abduction issue held between Japan and North Korea in August, North Korea had agreed to set up a panel to carry out a comprehensive survey to find surviving abductees and to return them to Japan, and to do its best to compile the results of its survey by autumn. However, as autumn draws to a close, there has been no communication from North Korea on this matter.

　拉致問題に関し日朝は８月の実務者協議で、北朝鮮が調査委員会を設置して生存者を発見し帰国させるための全面的な調査を行い、可能な限り秋までに結果をまとめることで合意している。しかし、秋も終わろうというのに北朝鮮からは何の連絡もない。

While the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism had been a card that Japan could have used to as leverage on the abduction issue, the U.S. took the card off the table by delisting North Korea, so there is no doubt that some hard feelings remain between Japan and the U.S. Aside from the North Korean issue, however, there are other pending bilateral issues between Japan and the U.S., including cooperation in the war against terrorism in Afghanistan, whose importance has been emphasized by president-elect Barack Obama, and the relocation of the Futenma Air Station which is related to a planned redeployment of U.S. forces in Japan.

　日本にとって拉致問題を動かすためのカードだったテロ支援国家指定を米国が解除したことで日米間にしこりが残ったのは確かだろう。両国間には北朝鮮問題のほかにも、オバマ次期大統領が重視しているアフガニスタンでのテロとの戦いへの協力や、在日米軍再編に関係する普天間飛行場移設などの懸案がある。

The first meeting between Prime Minister Aso and President Bush will probably be their last. President Bush has less than two months remaining in his term, and the Aso administration is standing on shaky political ground. That is why the hard feelings that arose under the Bush administration should not be bequeathed to the Japan-U.S. relationship that will be managed by the new administration. As President Bush himself has stated, the points of agreement that he arrived at with the leaders of Japan and South Korea should be endorsed by Obama.

　麻生首相とブッシュ大統領の会談は今回が最初で最後になる見通しだ。大統領の残り任期は２カ月を切り、麻生政権も足元が揺れている。だからこそ、ブッシュ政権下で生じたしこりを新政権下の日米関係に持ち越すことがないようにしなければならない。ブッシュ大統領自身が述べたように、日韓両国首脳との確認事項をオバマ氏にしっかり引き継いでもらいたい。

毎日新聞　2008年11月24日　0時04分