Japan should aid N Korea: Former defence chief

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TOKYO, Aug 22 (AFP): Japan's former defence chief Wednesday broke ranks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and said Tokyo should extend aid to North Korea if Pyongyang is abandoning its nuclear arsenal.
Abe, a sworn foe of North Korea, has refused to fund a six-nation disarmament-for-aid deal with North Korea due to a dispute over Pyongyang's past kidnappings of Japanese nationals.
"I believe North Korea is making a major policy change as it is very economically strapped," said senior ruling-party lawmaker Gen Nakatani, a critic of the embattled premier.
"If North Korea is abandoning its nuclear drive through the six- party talks, Japan must cooperate in the way that it can," he said.
"There is the issue of abductions but it is Japan who would face the threat and suffer the most damage if North Korea had nuclear arms.
"We must cooperate (with other members of the six-nation talks) in order to help make realistic progress," he said.
The six nations in the disarmament negotiations are North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.