Present there were Fumihiro Himori, chairman of the Japan Committee for Supporting the Independent and Peaceful Reunification of Korea, and members of its committee, members of the executive committee of the national meeting and representatives of organizations for solidarity with the Korean people.

Present there on invitation were Nam Sung U, vice-chairman of the Central Standing Committee of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), and other officials of Chongryon.

A congratulatory message sent by the Korean Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries to the meeting was read out.

Kenji Mizutani, general secretary of the Japan Committee for Supporting the Independent and Peaceful Reunification of Korea, made a keynote report.

He said that the Japanese authorities should take a sincere attitude towards settling the issues of building confidence and improving relations between the two countries, promptly lift the sanctions against the DPRK and opt for holding talks for normalizing bilateral relations.

Their visits to Yasukuni Shrine and revival of Japan's militarism, distortion of history and evasion of blame for its past crimes can never be tolerated, he said, expressing the will to conduct positive activities to guarantee the human rights of Koreans in Japan.

Then followed a seminar on the theme of "For achieving peace in Northeast Asia through normalization of Japan-DPRK relations and north-south reunification!"

The seminar discussed the prospect for DPRK-Japan relations and north-south relations and tasks for improving them.

An appeal was adopted at the meeting. It supported the independent and peaceful reunification of Korea. It urged the south Korean authorities to sincerely implement the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration and the Japanese authorities to come out for the talks for normalizing relations with the DPRK at an early date.