Clinton offers words of reassurance while in Japan

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at a joint press conference with Japan's foreign minister, Hirofumi Nakasone, on Tuesday. (Tomohiro Osumi/Pool, via Reuters)

By Mark Landler and Martin Fackler Published: February 18, 2009


TOKYO: In words and gestures, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton offered reassurance to Japan on Tuesday, calling its alliance with the United States a "cornerstone" of American foreign policy and meeting with families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea.

Clinton then departed on Wednesday for Jakarta, Indonesia, the second stop on a four-country tour that includes stops in South Korea and China. As with the stopover in Japan, the visit to Indonesia is steeped in symbolism: it is the first Muslim country she will visit and the start of what she said would be a "concerted effort" by the Obama administration to bring a new message to the Islamic world.

Clinton may also lay the groundwork for a visit by President Barack Obama, who lived in Jakarta as a boy. She has told colleagues that she is fascinated by Indonesia's ability to achieve political stability after its economic crisis in the late 1990s, and that she wonders if it holds any lessons for Pakistan.

While in Japan, Clinton carried an invitation from Obama to Prime Minister Taro Aso to meet him in Washington next Tuesday. Aso will be the first foreign leader received at the White House.


Saber-rattling by North Korea has already cast a shadow over Clinton's first trip as secretary of state, forcing her to confront an issue that evokes a complex range of feelings among the North's neighbors.

Today in Asia & Pacific
Security crackdown over vast areas in and around TibetPakistani journalist is killed covering rallyU.S. general sees long term for Afghan buildupIn Japan, where animosity toward North Korea runs deep because of the plight of the abductees, Clinton said she met with the families "to express my personal sympathy and our concern for what happened."

During the meeting, several family members said, Clinton pledged her support for resolving questions about the abductees — the fate of many of whom remains unknown even after three decades. But she stopped short of promising concrete steps to press North Korea on the issue.

The relatives said that Clinton spent most of the 30-minute meeting listening to their accounts. Sakie Yokota, whose daughter, Megumi, was kidnapped from Japan in 1977 at age 13, said she gave Clinton a copy of her book about her daughter and an extra copy for Obama.

"She is also a mother, and she said that any mother would fight to the end if such a thing happened to her," Yokota said.

But when she asked Clinton to punish North Korea by restoring it to Washington's list of state sponsors of terrorism — it was removed by the Bush administration last year — Clinton was noncommittal, saying only that she "would think about it," Yokota said.

The relatives said it was noteworthy that Clinton had met them, saying it sent a signal to North Korea not to ignore the issue. But they also showed disappointment in her offer to normalize relations with North Korea if it abandoned its nuclear program.

Shigeo Izuka, whose sister was kidnapped in 1978, said he implored Clinton "not to become friendly with North Korea because of a nuclear agreement." He said she listened to him "with intense concern in her eyes, but I felt in my heart that this issue will be all too easily forgotten."

North Korea has admitted to abducting Yokota's daughter and Izuka's sister and says that both later died in North Korea. The families reject the North's account, saying they want a full investigation.

Clinton said Washington would not relent in its pressure on North Korea to get it to give up its nuclear weapons program in a way that is verifiable. "We are watching very closely," she said.

But she repeated Obama's pledge to "reach out a hand to those with which we have differences." And she committed to continuing the multiparty talks with the North Korean government that also involve China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.

Clinton's busy day also included afternoon tea with Empress Michiko at the imperial residence and a town hall meeting at Tokyo University.

Fielding a question from a student about American economic sanctions against Myanmar, formerly Burma, Clinton acknowledged that the policy had not brought any significant changes to the country, which is ruled by a military junta. She said the Obama administration was reviewing its options, although she did not give details.

Clinton had dinner with Prime Minister Aso, followed by a meeting with his political nemesis, Ichiro Ozawa, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan.

After the meeting, Ozawa said that he told Clinton that he valued the alliance with the United States, but that he emphasized that he wanted the relationship to be on a more equal footing, criticizing the current government for following Washington too slavishly.

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