[APCPress] Japanese government condemned for not inviting North Korea to Info Society Meeting

[Karen Higgs]

Civil society IT groups condemn Japanese government for not inviting
North Korea to Info Society Meeting
 
Report from Mavic Cabrera-Balleza, Isis International-Manila 
 
Tokyo, 13 January 2003---Participants of the Communication Rights
Workshop held in conjunction with the ongoing Asian Regional Conference
for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) criticised the
Japanese government for its decision to not invite delegates from the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) to this Tokyo
meeting. 

Led by JCA-Net, a Tokyo-based organisation that provides IT support to
Japanese NGOs and other members of civil society; and Jinbonet, a South
Korean network that advocates for the use of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) for social transformation, the
participants demanded that the Japanese Ministry of Public Management,
Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) apologise to North
Korea and the conference participants. 

The Communication Rights Workshop participants asserted that all WSIS
processes including the Asian Regional Meeting should be spaces where
all ICT stakeholders will be able to freely participate. They invoked
the United Nations statement that "The World Summit on the Information
Society will provide a unique opportunity for all key stakeholders to
assemble at a high-level gathering and to develop a better understanding
of this revolution and its impact on the international community. It
aims to bring together Heads of State, Executive Heads of United Nations
agencies, industry leaders, non-governmental organizations, media
representatives and civil society in a single high-level event."

An official of the MPHPT International Affairs Department who was
interviewed for this report stated that "North Korea was not invited
because this is a meeting of members of the UN Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and North Korea is not an
ESCAP member." 

Following is the full statement circulated by the Communication Rights
Workshop participants: 

Japanese government should apologize to Democratic People's
Republic of Korea and conference participants

2003, 12th, January.

We, the participants of the side event of the Asian Regional Conference
for the World Summit at the United Nations University, strongly condemn
Japanese government (Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts
and Telecommunications) for not inviting  delegates from the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) to the Asian Regional
Conference for World Summit on the Information Society, while North
Korea is a member of the United Nations and they are considered as a
fully qualified stakeholder of the conference.

The Asian Regional Conference for the World Summit on the Information
Society should be a place where all the stakeholders related to
information and communication societies including governments, private
sectors and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) can participate
without any conditions. Even the United Nations (UN) already expressed,
"The World Summit on the Information Society will provide a unique
opportunity for all key stakeholders to assemble at a high-level
gathering and to develop a better understanding of this revolution and
its impact on the international community. It aims to bring together
Heads of State, Executive Heads of United Nations agencies, industry
leaders, non-governmental organizations, media
representatives and civil society in a single high-level event."

Japanese government stated officially that they have no diplomatic
channel between Japan and North Korea, so they could not send
invitation. We can never accept such an excuse made by Japanese
government.  Japanese government could invite some suitable person,who
is not necessarily a government delegate, from North Korea if they
really tried to do so.  However, the truth seems to be different. We are
informed that Japanese government decided not to invite North Korea for
the reason of the political circumstances in Japan.

The Asian Regional Conference for World Summit on the Information
Society is the place where not only those who are favourable to Japanese
government, but all stakeholders in Asia are expected to discuss over
the various aspects of ICTs.  Japanese government must recognize the
fact that Asia is characterized as a region of great diversity; North
Korea is obviously one of unique country in this diverse region and, in
a sense, one of the important players. Moreover, this type of UN related
fora is seeking regional and global cooperation overcoming the present
political, economic and social differences.

We hope that the Japanese government apologise to North Korean
government for not inviting them and also to participants who were
deprived of a chance to discuss various issues with North Korean
people.  And we demand Japanese Government to include those apologies to
Final Report of this conference in order to make sure that all
stakeholders including North Korea can participate WSIS in meetings.

-30-

 
JCA-NET and Jinbonet are members of the Association for Progressive
Communications (APC) http://www.apc.org