Read this one carefully! The reporter uses a lot of maybe's and migh be's. However if the government does work a deal which allows the N. Korean ship to enter Japan on a special case basis the government has joined in a conspiracy to commit a crime which means that you go to jail for doing it. Do you want a criminal for a P.M.?
Harassment of Korean residents may come up in Koizumi-Kim talks

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi might express concern over the harassment of Korean residents in Japan that followed North Korea's admission in 2002 that it had abducted Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s, government sources said Thursday.

By expressing such concerns during his Saturday meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, Koizumi apparently hopes to show that he takes the matter seriously. The move is an apparent attempt to soften Pyongyang's stance on pending bilateral issues.

He might also tell Kim that if the family members of five repatriated abductees are allowed to leave North Korea for Japan, the government would not invoke an envisioned law that would allow it to ban the port entry of certain ships, particularly those from North Korea, the sources said.

The bill is apparently aimed at the North Korean ferry Mangyongbong-92, which travels between Japan and North Korea. Police suspect it is involved in espionage and other illegal activities.

A government source said North Korea "suspects Japan does not really intend to normalize bilateral ties" because anti-North Korea sentiment among Japanese heightened after the five abductees were allowed to return to Japan in October 2002.

Koizumi might say he intends to address the harassment problem, while strongly urging Kim to allow the abductees' families go to Japan and provide more information on other missing Japanese.

Some in the government have urged that the harassment problem be treated separately from the abduction issue, and that steps be taken to prevent further harassment.

The pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun) said it received about 300 reports of harassment against students of pro-Pyongyang schools in the week after North Korea owned up to the abductions at the 2002 landmark summit between Koizumi and Kim.

Jenkins a problem
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ryozo Kato said Wednesday that Japan must work to find a solution to the case of Charles Robert Jenkins, who faces court-martial for desertion by the U.S. if North Korea allows him to come to Japan.

Jenkins is married to freed Japanese abductee Hitomi Soga.

At the same time, however, Kato told reporters that the United States will also have to take legal action against Jenkins under military law.

"The current situation does not allow me to tell how the issue will develop," he said.

Jenkins, 64, whose 45-year-old wife is one of five Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents in 1978 and repatriated to Japan in 2002, remains in North Korea with the couple's two daughters.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will visit Pyongyang on Saturday to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in the hope of securing the passage to Japan of the repatriated abductees' kin.

If Jenkins comes to Japan, the U.S. government is expected to ask Tokyo to hand him over for court-martial. Japan has been asking the United States to give Jenkins "special consideration," including a pardon.

On Tuesday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage described Jenkins' case as "very sensitive."

Media muzzle sought
The five Japanese repatriated after being abducted to North Korea asked media organizations Thursday to refrain from reporting on their family members if they come to Japan from North Korea.

They filed the request with the Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association, the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan, and the Japan Magazine Publishers Association, saying they do not want their eight family members to participate in news conferences "until they understand the circumstances they are placed in."

The Japan Times: May 21, 2004