We all, like sheep, have
gone astray, each of us has turned to his
own way; and the LORD laid on him the iniquity of
us all.He was oppressed and
afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.By oppression and judgment he was taken away.And who can speak of his descendants?For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of my people he was
stricken.He was assigned a grave with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man in his death, because he had done no
violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.There are concerns that international cooperation to prevent North Korea from developing nuclear weapons and missiles could be in jeopardy if Tokyo lifts trade sanctions against the North.

Tokyo and Pyongyang agreed last Thursday that Japan will lift sanctions imposed on the North if Pyongyang investigates a bizarre abduction campaign of Japanese people during the 1970s and 80s.

Currently, trade between Japan and the North is at zero after Tokyo banned imports from the isolated country in 2006 and exports to it in 2009 over its nuclear and missile programs.

In 2000, Japan was the North's second largest trading partner with a trade volume of US$438 million accounting for 19 percent of the North's entire annual trade volume, a close second after China's $484 million.

In 2001 Japan gave the North rice