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July 11, 2010: Prime Minister Kan Naoto‟s ruling coalition loses a majority in the Upper House of the Diet following elections. Japan-Korea Relations 121 October 2010 July 13, 2010: Japan‟s Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya “recognizes that Korean pride was deeply bruised when they lost their country” in his written interview with South Korean daily Dong-A Ilbo. July 20-23, 2010: Kim Hyon-hui, the sole surviving bomber of the 1987 Korean Air passenger flight, makes a four-day visit to Japan to meet the families of those abducted by North Korea. July 22, 2010: Nakai Hiroshi, Japan‟s state minister in charge of abduction issues, says that abduction victim Taguchi Yaeko was alive and well in Pyongyang six years ago. Pyongyang previously claimed that she died in 1986 in a car accident. July 23, 2010: Japan‟s Chief Cabinet Secretary Sengoku Yoshito says Kim Hyon-hui‟s visit was “meaningful.” July 27, 2010: Prime Minister‟s Advisory Council on National Security and Defense Capabilities in the New Era completes its report. Aug. 6, 2010: Japan‟s Chief Cabinet Secretary Sengoku Yoshito says that Japan needs to remove impediments to future-oriented bilateral relations with Seoul from a humanitarian standpoint. Aug. 10, 2010: The Korean reunification index of the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University shows that the feasibility of the integration of the two Koreas in the areas of politics, economics, society, and culture declined in 2009 for a second straight year. Aug. 10, 2010: Prime Minister Kan apologizes to South Korea for Japan‟s colonial rule of Korea. Japan acknowledges for the first time the forceful nature of the annexation in 1910. Aug. 11, 2010: The Japanese government releases the property tax collection practices of facilities for pro-North Korea General Association of Korean Residents in Japan. Aug. 11, 2010: North Korea criticizes Prime Minister Kan for apologizing only to South Korea and for failing to settle the past. Aug. 12, 2010: A group of North Korean victims and the families of the deceased victims of Japan‟s colonial rule send a letter to Japan to demand immediate apology and compensation. Aug. 13, 2010: North Korea‟s ambassador for normalization talks with Japan, Song Il-ho, says that Prime Minister Kan‟s apology statement was “disappointing.” Aug. 15, 2010: South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak proposes a unification tax during his speech commemorating the 65th anniversary of Liberation Day. Aug. 26, 2010: Japan sends the South Korean government the records of those who died during forced labor at Japanese companies and mines during its colonial rule of Korea. Japan-Korea Relations 122 October 2010 Aug. 28, 2010: Japan‟s Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya tells his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi that the Six-Party Talks cannot easily be resumed “considering the feelings of South Korean and the South Korean government‟s position.” Aug. 29, 2010: The 100th anniversary of Japan‟s annexation of Korea. Sept. 7, 2010: Japan‟s Agriculture Ministry announces that Japan is lifting a ban on South Korean poultry imports. Sept. 10, 2010: Japan‟s Defense White Paper emphasizes the importance of US military deterrence and expresses concerns over China‟s increasing military power. Sept. 10, 2010: South Korea expresses “deep regret” over Japan‟s Defense White Paper‟s description of the Dokdo/Takeshima islets as part of Japanese territory. Sept. 14, 2010: Kan Naoto is reelected head of the Democratic Party of Japan. Sept. 15, 2010: The Bank of Japan sells yen as currency trading opens in Tokyo. Sept. 22, 2010: Japanese Foreign Minister Maehara Seiji and acting South Korean Foreign Minister Shin Kak-Soo agree that North Korea has to show concrete action before the resumption of the Six-Party Talks. Sept. 27-28, 2010: Seoul, Tokyo, and Beijing meet to discuss details of setting up a permanent secretariat for trilateral cooperation. Sept. 28, 2010: North Korea holds a political conference and Kim Jong-un is appointed as vice chairman of the Central Military Committee of the Workers‟ Party. Sept. 29, 2010: Families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea urge the Japanese government to take more proactive actions to make a breakthrough in the abduction issue. Sept. 29, 2010: Japan‟s Foreign Minister Maehara Seiji says that Japan is closing monitoring developments regarding North Korea‟s leadership transition.