Japan is concerned with the developments in North Korea, according to Ambassador Yutaka Iimura, Special Envoy of the Japanese Government to the Middle East, who told President Shimon Peres on Thursday, "The regime is very isolated and dangerous, and the fact that they have carried out two nuclear tests is a severe existential threat to the neighboring countries."
Iimura is visiting the region "to accelerate the process of economic development."
President Peres replied that he agrees with this observation, and pointed out that "North Korea attempted to help Syria become a nuclear state." He added that he sees "great similarities between the North Korean and Iranian regimes – both are wallowing in corruption, the use of force, and starvation of their people. The combination of these characteristics and their nuclear aspirations make them dangerous."
In his meeting with the Japanese emissary, President Peres noted that Thursday marked 64 years since the United States' atomic bombing of Hiroshima. "I see a real chance for peace in the Middle East," Peres said, but "if we miss this opportunity, the Middle East will become nuclear."
Ambassador Iimura is scheduled to visit Jericho on Friday for a first-hand look at the Corridor to Peace and Prosperity, the flagship project in a Japanese program that has contributed over $1 billion to the Palestinian Authority since 1993. President Peres is an initiator of the project.
The program is based on the establishment of a packing-house for export of agricultural produce and support of modern, technological farming.
Ambassador Iimura's visit is part of a regional diplomatic tour that also includes Syria, Egypt and Jordan. Japan is the current Chairman of the U.N. Security Council's Sanctions Committee for Iran, for the period ending 31 December 2009.