Diet members who had voluntary visited North Korea. Upon their return to Tokyo, Diet members reported on North Korea’s political and economic situation, its international relations, the Kim Il Sung personality cult, and the possibility of the US and Japan exchanging recognition to Pyongyang. The Diet members had reportedly told their North Korean hosts that although “We [Japan] cannot suddenly change a policy that has been followed until now” and establish diplomatic relations with North Korea, they did explain that the two countries could increase exchanges over time. For the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which had no formal diplomatic channels with Pyongyang, the Diet members provided not only invaluable firsthand information and insights about North Korea, but they had also laid the initial groundwork for relations betweenthe two countries.

Document No. 4 contains the talking points prepared for Foreign Minister Miyazawa Kiichi prior to his meeting with Henry Kissinger in October 1975. Kissinger visited Japan while en route to China in order to build assurance for a cooperative dialogue among the signatories of the ceasefire agreement in Korea. Miyazawa, for his part, reminded Kissinger about a conversation the two had previously had in Washington regarding an exploratory bilateral US-North Korea dialogue. Miyazawa emphasized the necessity of China recognizing South Korea and involving Seoul as an equal player in the peace process. In the end, however, the Japanese initiative was not accepted because it was deemed too similar to the DPRK’s suggestion for a direct US-DPRK dialogue. The United States was concerned that the Japanese initiatives