Purely Korean...

タイトル：純粋にコリアン…

The story of the day should have been about Korea anyways, as the families of the Japanese abductees met their counterparts in South Korea. A dramatic meeting of abductee Megumi Yokota's family with the family of Kim Young Nam, who is believed to be married to Megumi and is to be the father of Kim Hye Gyong, the daughter of Megumi.
As I helped to cover the press conference they gave out at Seoul, my colleagues, who are usually in charge of this story, were fully occupied with this top level news that flashed in...
You can see how "flashing" it was comparing the two editions of Yomiuri...
きょうのトップニュースはどっちにしろコリアについてのはずだった。日本人拉致被害者の家族が韓国のカウンターパートに会っていたからだ。拉致被害者の横田めぐみさんの家族が、めぐみさんと結婚してめぐみさんの娘のキム・ヘギョンさんの父親とされているキミ・ヨンナムさんの家族と感動的な対面をした。
ソウルで開かれた記者会見の取材を手伝っていたが、このネタをいつも担当している仲間たちは、飛び込んできたこのトップ級のネタで手が一杯だった…。
どれだけ「急に入ってきた」かは読売の２つの版を比べると分かるでしょう…

Yomiuri's evening paper...
early edition on the left and the latest edition on the right...
see the difference!?

Important news nationwide, especially for the Kansai area, but NOT fully a surprise.
It could well be just a natural passage of history for the Koreans in Japan...

写真：読売の夕刊…
早版が左側で、遅版が右側…
違いが分かる！？
全国的に重要なニュースだ。特に関西地区にとっては。でも完全にサプライズだったとは言えない。
日本にいるコリアンたちにとっては歴史的に自然な道筋なのかも知れない…。
（以下、共同の配信記事：和訳は略）

◆ Pro-Seoul, pro-Pyongyang resident groups to become reconciled
TOKYO, May 16 KYODO
The pro-Seoul and pro-Pyongyang Korean residents' groups in Japan said Tuesday their leaders will hold their first-ever meeting Wednesday morning to try to resolve their long-standing conflict and become reconciled.
The pro-Seoul Korean Residents Union in Japan, known as Mindan, and the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon, will issue a joint statement after the meeting, the groups said in a joint press release.
The epoch-making move for the groups, who have been at loggerheads for half a century, is in line with South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun's conciliatory approach toward North Korea.
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi welcomed the news and told reporters, ''Reconciliation will be a good thing...While the two groups' stances differ, they are of the same ethnicity and live in Japan, so I think it will be nice if they can get along and cooperate with each other.''
The premier added that he hopes the developments would have a positive influence on Japan's relations with North and South Korea.
Mindan leader Ha Byong Ok and six other representatives will visit Chongryon's head office in Tokyo to meet with its leader So Man Sul and other counterparts, the groups said.
The talks' themes are ''reconciliation and cooperation'' plus ''unity for a common purpose,'' according to Mindan.
''Amalgamation at the organizational level is still a long way off, but we are going to cooperate as Koreans in Japan. It is a historic event,'' a source familiar with the matter told Kyodo News.
Mindan, set up in 1946, and Chongryon, formed in 1955, have not realized a top meeting even since then South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il called for reconciliation at their summit meeting in June 2000.
Mindan says it groups about 500,000 Korean residents in Japan, mostly affiliated with South Korea, while most Chongryon members are North Korean affiliates.
==Kyodo