Still mysterious country

It is hard to understand the incident that Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, was deported from Japan to China for trying to enter Japan with a forged passport. Why did Kim Jong-nam use a forged passport? Why did he use a passport of Dominican Republic, a small Latin American country? Who were the two women in their thirties and a four-year-old child? Why did he try to enter Japan? A host of questions are unanswered. It is also questionable, whether Kim Jong-nam previously entered Japan with a false passport before as some Japanese press reported. If CIA tipped off the information to the Japanese government prior to Kim`s entry, what was motive behind?

The fact that the eldest son of the North Korean leader used a forged passport for an illegal entry is embarrassing and disgraceful to us as same ethnic people. There are many speculations as to the purpose of Kim Jong-nam`s visit to Japan, such as sightseeing, observation of the IT industry, rite of passage to become an `heir.` No matter what, illegal entry cannot be pardoned.

In the international society, North Korea is often perceived as `reclusive country,` `military regime,` and `kingdom.` If North Korea truly wants to be a member of the international society and receives an overseas investment, it should modify its negative image of being a `mysterious country.`

Recently North Korea has been active in its foreign policy by increasing the numbers of treaty with other countries and inviting the EU delegation members. It is concerning how the international society will view `Kim Jong-nam incident` in the middle of North Korea`s growing open policy.

Through this incident North Korea could build the international trust by conducting properly according to the `international standards.`

The Japanese government deported Kim Jong-nam to China without officially revealing his identity to the press to preserve the future North Korea-Japan relationship. We want to evaluate the Japanese government`s quick and thoughtful process of dealing with this incident. To embrace North Korea as a member of the international society is a common task given to South Korea-U.S.-Japan. In this sense, it is not desirable that this incident becomes a stumbling block for the diplomatic normalization between North Korea and Japan.