09-05-07

北韩逮捕间谍 (North Korea Arrests Spies)

北韩表示，其国家安全部逮捕了为某国充当间谍的几名北韩公民。官方的朝中社星期三报导，一个外国间谍机构利用金钱、美色和勒索威逼利诱了这些北韩人。几位外国人也被逮捕。

朝中社的报导说，这些特工人员装扮成商人，用照相机和全球定位系统拍摄北韩重要军事设施并制图。北韩说，这些间谍还被要求收集军方情报和国家机密，并散播民主和自由思想。报导没有指明这个外国或者情报机构。

这是近年来北韩首次宣布逮捕间谍的消息。

North Korea says its National Security Service has arrested several of its citizens who were working as spies for a foreign country. The official Korean Central News Agency reports Wednesday that a foreign espionage agency coerced the North Koreans with money, sex and blackmail. Several foreigners were also arrested.

The news report says the agents had posed as businessmen and used cameras, and global positioning systems to take pictures and draw maps of key military facilities. North Korea says the spies also were asked to collect information on military and state secrets and spread the ideas of freedom and democracy. It did not identify the foreign country or the spy agency.

This is the first time in recent years that North Korea has announced the arrest of spies.

日本和北韩在罕见会谈中处理棘手问题 (Japan, North Korea Tackle Tough Issues in Rare Talks)

日本和北韩在蒙古举行少有的会谈，作为有关结束北韩核武器项目广泛外交努力的一部分。日本特使美根庆树说，为了争取两国关系正常化，他已经准备好真诚地讨论日本为1910年到1945年期间朝鲜半岛殖民统治做出赔偿的方式。

预计这将是两国星期三在乌兰巴托开始的两天会谈的主要议题。在会谈中，日本将推动北韩解决绑架日本公民引起的争端。美根表示，除非绑架问题得到解决，否则两国关系将不会改善。

北韩承认在1970年代和1980年代曾经绑架了13名日本公民，帮助培训北韩间谍。5人已经返回日本，北韩声称其他人已死亡。日本表示，被绑架的日本公民要更多。

Japan and North Korea have opened rare talks in Mongolia, as part of a broader diplomatic effort to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. Japanese envoy Yoshiki Mine says to normalize relations, he is prepared to sincerely discuss ways Japan can atone for its colonization of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

That issue is expected to top the agenda of the two-day talks that opened Wednesday in Ulaanbaator. During the talks, Japan will push to address a dispute involving North Korea's kidnapping of Japanese citizens. Mine says relations will not improve unless the issue is resolved.

North Korea has admitted it kidnapped 13 citizens in the 1970s and 1980s to help train its agents. Five have returned to Japan, and North Korea says the others are dead. Japan says many more were taken.