Prime Minister Abe Responded Firmly: "He [Mr. Tanaka] Did Not Keep Records of the Negotiations. He Has No Right to Speak on Diplomacy."
August 1, 2018
The following is from Yukio Abiru’s article titled “Hitoshi Tanaka: Missing Diplomatic Documents Raise Suspicions of a Secret Deal with North Korea,” published in this month’s issue of the magazine WiLL under its special feature: "Those Who Undermine Japan."
I’ve mentioned many times before that Yukio Abiru is one of the few genuine journalists of our time—and rightly a protégé of the great Masayuki Takayama. WiLL, priced at 840 yen, is filled with essential articles that every Japanese citizen should read.
On the other hand, those who pay over 5,000 yen a month to subscribe to Asahi Shimbun or who naively trust the heavily biased reporting of NHK—an organization steeped in juvenile pseudo-moralism and manipulated by influences such as the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan—will never encounter the kind of truth found in this magazine.
All literate Japanese should immediately head to their local bookstore to purchase it.
Abe’s Rebuke: “He [Tanaka] Did Not Keep Negotiation Records. He Has No Right to Speak on Diplomacy.”
Two Missing Records
For a year and a half, Japan’s Parliament was consumed by the Moritomo-Kake scandals. The Finance Ministry’s falsification of documents in the Moritomo Gakuen case and the Education Ministry’s memo referring to the “Prime Minister’s intent” in the Kake Gakuen case were seized upon by the opposition and the Asahi Shimbun to ceaselessly attack the Abe administration.
However, when it comes to North Korea, the fact that records of diplomatic negotiations conducted by Hitoshi Tanaka are missing has been met with total silence.
Back on February 9, 2008, I published articles in Sankei Shimbun’s front page and page three titled:
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“Missing Records from Japan–North Korea Negotiations Prior to PM Koizumi’s First Visit”
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“Two Missing Sessions: Destroyed or Never Created? Hindrance to Abduction Talks.”
These articles were based on testimonies from multiple high-ranking government officials.
When Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited North Korea in 2002, then-Director General of the Asia-Pacific Bureau Hitoshi Tanaka and others had conducted two key negotiation sessions with the North Koreans just before the visit. Those two most crucial sessions are completely missing—and not archived anywhere within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Of the roughly 30 backchannel talks held between Japan and North Korea, these two final ones likely involved highly sensitive discussions on economic cooperation or the abduction issue.
No other records mention the proposed $8 billion–1 trillion yen in economic aid to North Korea, suggesting these topics were discussed in the two missing sessions.
Why Are the Records Missing?
It is strongly suspected that Tanaka either deliberately destroyed the records or never allowed them to be created in the first place. Several senior officials believe this.
One senior official noted:
“It’s likely there were prior discussions about the fates of the abductees. It’s inconceivable the Prime Minister would visit North Korea without knowing such details. Perhaps someone had something to hide and didn’t want a record.”
A senior Foreign Ministry official added:
“In those final discussions with North Korea, only Tanaka and the interpreter know what was really said.”
At a time when Japan is considering reentering negotiations with North Korea, not knowing the content of previous talks puts Japan at a severe disadvantage. If North Korea says, “Japan agreed to this back then,” there is no way to verify or refute it.
Despite the gravity of this issue, the opposition parties and media who raised a storm over the Moritomo-Kake scandals remain silent on this far more serious lapse.
This Is Not Comparable to Moritomo-Kake
This missing diplomatic documentation is of a completely different magnitude. Diplomatic negotiations of this importance should be recorded, shared within the ministry, and made public after a certain period.
Otherwise, diplomatic continuity is lost, and the existence of any secret deals becomes unverifiable.
Evasive Response from Tanaka
When preparing the article, I contacted Mr. Tanaka directly. Though he typically refused Sankei’s inquiries, at the time he was a Senior Fellow at the Japan Center for International Exchange.
His response:
“I’m no longer in the Foreign Ministry, and I don’t know. As a bureau chief back then, I wouldn’t have written the records myself. Ask the Ministry whether records exist.”
It was clear he was dodging the question.
After the article was published on February 9, then–Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura held a press conference on February 12. Although I couldn’t attend, here’s a portion of the transcript:
Reporter: “Sankei reported missing negotiation records between Japan and North Korea before Koizumi’s visit. Were they never created, or were they created and then lost?”
Komura: “I don’t intend to comment on the content or the preparatory stages of those negotiations.”
Reporter: “But this is about document management...”
Komura: “Even regarding the preparatory phase, I have no comment. But I can say the handover of information within the ministry was properly done, so there’s no issue in continuing diplomacy.”
Reporter: “Still, isn’t it important to verify—”
Komura: “There’s no point continuing this back-and-forth.”
Reporter: “With all due respect, document management is a public concern. Reports of missing records warrant investigation—will one be conducted?”
Komura: “I don’t think an investigation is necessary. We’ve properly handed over relevant information.”
This insistence that proper handover occurred is clearly a cover-up.
Later, a diplomatic official told me:
“I also looked into the missing records and confirmed—they don’t exist.”
No record was ever handed over. Even the Vice Ministers at the time were unaware. During his first administration, Prime Minister Abe instructed the Chief Cabinet Secretary to search for them, but they couldn’t be found.
The only people who know the whereabouts of those documents are likely Mr. Tanaka and his trusted subordinate at the time, Kenji Hiramatsu—now Japan’s Ambassador to India.
