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Jan. 1, 2010: DongA Ilbo reports that a poll by the Korea Research Center shows that anti-Japanese feelings are easing among South Koreans. Jan. 1, 2010: Central News Agency of DPRK reports that Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of Supreme People’s Assembly of DPRK encouraged the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) in a New Year’s message to make a “tangible contribution to bringing an earlier day of the country’s reunification.” Jan. 5, 2010: Japan announces its decision to allow North Korea’s women’s soccer team to visit Tokyo for the East Asian Championships despite the sanctions in place. North Korea later announces its decision not to send its women’s team. Jan. 9, 2010: Central News Agency of DPRK criticizes Japan for “nuclear weaponization” under the cover of its three non-nuclear principles after Japan admits to having made a “secret pact” with the US government to introduce nuclear weapons into Japan in the past. Jan. 11, 2010: Prime Minister (PM) Hatoyama Yukio and DPJ Secretary General Ozawa Ichiro agree to submit a bill to the regular Diet session in January to grant local-level suffrage to permanent residents in Japan. Jan. 13, 2010: Japan’s civic groups protest in front of a parliamentary committee in conjunction with the 900th weekly rally by former South Korean “comfort women.” Jan. 16, 2010: Foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan confirm that they oppose lifting of sanctions against the North and that North Korea’s call for early talks on a peace treaty can be realized only after the North commits to denuclearization. Jan. 21, 2010: The UN independent investigator on human rights in the DPRK affirms during his meeting with Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya that he will cooperate with Japan on the abduction issue. Japan-Korea Relations 116 April 2010 Jan. 26, 2010: South Korea’s Foreign Ministry renews its request that the Japanese government review its recent decision on pension refunds to Koreans who were forced into labor during the Pacific War. Jan. 30, 2010: Japan’s Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Haraguchi Kazahiro says that the Japanese government should not rush in submitting a bill to the ordinary Diet session to grant local voting rights to permanent foreign residents in Japan. Feb. 1, 2010: South Korea’s Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea says the government may formally request that Japan return about 660 books from the Choson era that are believed to have been be taken by Japan’s Governor-General of Korea during Japanese colonial rule. Feb. 5, 2010: Prime Minister Chung Un-chan says that if Japanese Emperor Akihito visits South Korea, he should repent Japan’s past wrongdoings during the colonial era and commit to a new relationship between the two countries. Feb. 11, 2010: Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya visits Seoul and meets counterpart, Yu Myung-hwan. They agree to make joint efforts to mend ties as Okada offers an apology for Japan’s colonial rule over Korea and to work closely on issues such as the climate change and the global economic crisis. Feb. 11, 2010: South Korea’s Unification Minister Hyun In-Taek and Foreign Minister Okada agree to enhance intelligence sharing on North Korea. March 1, 2010: South Korean internet users stage a concerted attack on a Japanese website to protest anti-Korean posts by Japanese users. March 3, 2010: Japan and North Korea clash over the abduction issue at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. March 3, 2010: North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun says that the Japan must use “impartiality” in its decision on the possible exclusion of Korean schools in Japan in its tuition waiver program. March 3, 2010: The ROK-PRC-Japan Green Technology Forum is held on Korea’s Jeju Island. The forum brings green-technology experts and government officials to share information on environmentally friendly technologies, policies and practices. March 10, 2010: PM Hatoyama says the abduction issue is not linked to his administration’s pending decision on the inclusion of pro-Pyongyang schools in the tuition waiver program, but expresses the need for solid criteria to compare the curricula of these schools. March 13, 2010: Nakai Hiroshi, Japan’s state minister in charge of the abduction issue, criticizes PM Hatoyama for failing to clearly state his view on the issue of pro-Pyongyang schools’ exclusion from the tuition exemption program. Japan-Korea Relations 117 April 2010 Japan-Korea Relations 118 April 2010 March 15, 2010: South Korea and Japan police chiefs agree to establish a hotline to share information in preparation for the G20 meeting in Seoul and APEC leaders meeting in Tokyo. March 16, 2010: A UN Panel on racial equality and nondiscrimination expresses concern about Japan’s possible exclusion of pro-Pyongyang schools from its new tuition waiver program. March 16, 2010: Around 300 mothers of children who attend pro-DPRK schools rally in Tokyo demanding that the government not to exclude those high schools from tuition waiver program. March 17, 2010: PM Hatoyama acknowledges difficulty in building a consensus within the ruling coalition to submit a bill on local foreign suffrage during the current Diet session. March 23, 2010: Japan’s Lower House unanimously approves a bill to extend financial support to five Japanese abductees who were repatriated from North Korea for five years. March 23, 2010: The second Japan-South Korea joint history research panel issues a report. March 24, 2010: The South Korean government formally asks China and Japan to help locate the remains of Ahn Jung-guen, South Korea’s independence hero who was executed by Japan after assassinating Ito Hirobumi. March 26, 2010: Japan provides a list of 175,000 Koreans who were forced into labor during the colonial period to South Korea. March 28, 2010: North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun claims that Japan must compensate for crimes it committed during the Korean War and its colonial rule over the Korean peninsula. March 30, 2010: Japan’s Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry approves five elementary school textbooks that describe the Dokdo/Takeshima islets as Japanese territory. Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan summons Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Toshinori Shigeie to file an official protest over the claim. March 31, 2010: Kyodo News reports that Japan is likely to extend sanctions against North Korea for another year after the April 13 deadline as the idea is approved at a meeting of senior vice ministers.