Sodovjamts Khurelbaatar, Mongolia's outgoing ambassador to Japan, speaks about his experiences in both Japan and North Korea at the Embassy of Mongolia in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward in July. (Satoru Semba)

Mongolia's outgoing ambassador to Japan pledged his country's cooperation in helping to resolve the decades-old issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea.

Sodovjamts Khurelbaatar, in a wide-ranging interview with The Asahi Shimbun ahead of his departure home, also spoke about his impressions of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, from his time as envoy in the reclusive state between 2008 and 2011.

“It is Mongolia’s duty to help solve the (abduction) issue as a partner (of Japan),” said Khurelbaatar, emphasizing the friendly ties the country's enjoys with both Japan and North Korea.

Khurelbaatar made clear that Mongolia is keen to see Japan develop more friendly relations with North Korea.

He also suggested that Mongolia's capital, Ulan Bator, be the setting for stalled six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing North Korea.

Khurelbaatar served as ambassador in North Korea toward the end of the regime headed by Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un's father.

He said that when he attended Kim Jong Il's funeral in December 2011, he met the current leader Jong Un and shook his hand.

“His hand was soft,” Khurelbaatar recalled. “I saw sadness in his eyes, but he was occasionally smiling, too.”

He said diplomats in North Korea were well aware before Kim Jong Il's death that his son would take over.

“Kim Jong Il used to see ambassadors from China and Russia, but stopped seeing high-ranking officials from other countries from two to three years before his death,” Khurelbaatar said.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is also keen to further relations with Mongolia in light of its good relationship with North Korea.

In September 2013, when Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj was visiting Japan as the president of Mongolia, Abe invited him to his private residence. Khurelbaatar accompanied the president to serve as an interpreter.

Khurelbaatar said the two leaders developed “a deep trust toward each other,” adding that the talks centered on steps they could take together to resolve the nuclear development and abduction issues.

In March 2014, a meeting was held in Ulan Bator so the parents of abductee Megumi Yokota could finally meet their granddaughter, Kim Un Gyong. Megumi was abducted by Pyongyang as a teenager in the 1970s. North Korea says she is no longer alive.

Pyongyang later promised to reopen its investigation into the abduction issue, but then reneged. The issue has been in limbo ever since.

Six-party talks aimed at getting North Korea to renounce is nuclear ambitions stalled in 2008.

Given this background, Khurelbaatar referred to the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue, an international conference on Northeast Asia security that was initiated by Mongolia in 2014, and said Japan should use it to hold discussions with North Korea.

“A war can break out, if one party remains stiff just because the other one is difficult to talk to,” said Khurelbaatar, emphasizing the importance of maintaining dialogue with North Korea, rather than just applying sanctions. “The most undesirable outcome is war.”

Published Date:2017-08-02