Japan plans to exceptionally OK visit by N. Korean IOC member+

TOKYO, July 7 Kyodo -
Japan is in the final stage of arrangements to exceptionally allow a North Korean member of the International Olympic Committee to visit Tokyo for a July 14 Olympic Council of Asia meeting, government officials said Thursday.
In a briefing to a group of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers, they said the plan to allow the visit by IOC member Chang Ung would be an exception to a principle ban on North Korean nationals' entry into Japan that the government imposed in October 2006 in protest against Pyongyang's nuclear explosion test.
At a separate news conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said, ''If a visa application is made, at that stage we will deal with it appropriately.''
With regard to the criteria for granting entry permission, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology cited the Olympic Charter which forbids ''any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise,'' participants at the LDP panel said.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet Office stressed that the final decision will be made after confirming details of Chang's itinerary, noting the stringent sanctions that restrict visits to Japan by North Korean officials.
There remains stiff public opposition to such an exceptional measure as past abductions of Japanese nationals by the North remain unresolved.
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, known for his harsh stance against the North, was quoted as saying at the panel meeting the government must clearly identify the person or persons seeking entry for fears that Pyongyang may manipulate the opportunity to smuggle spy agents into Japan.
The government has been considering the matter since North Korea said it would attend the OCA meeting upon invitations sent to member nations by the Japan Olympic Committee and Japan Sports Association, the officials said.
If the trip is realized, Chang will be the first senior North Korean official to visit Japan since then North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan did in 2006.
The government plans to limit Chang's official activities in Japan to his attendance at the OCA meeting, while allowing him to stay in the country between July 11 and 17, sources close to the matter said earlier.