Japan tense ahead of World Cup qualifier

Japanese authorities, worried that a diplomatic feud with North Korea could spill over into sports, are beefing up security for a World Cup soccer qualifier pitting Japan against North Korea next week.

Ties, for decades bitter over Japan's wartime behaviour, have been strained by North Korea's admission it kidnapped Japanese citizens decades ago to train its spies, and feelings in Japan that North Korea has yet to fully account for the abductees.

"We have various issues between the two countries, so we've decided to take steps to keep something from happening," Japan Football Association (JFA) vice president Junji Ogura told a news conference on Thursday.

Among the precautions will be a buffer zone of empty seats in the stadium just outside Tokyo to keep an expected crowd of several thousand North Korea supporters, most expected to be ethnic Korean residents of Japan, apart from Japanese fans.

Hundreds more security guards will also be on duty on the night.

But some Japanese supporters said fear of clashes between the fans -- all too common at highly charged soccer matches abroad -- was being played up by the media, which had wrongly linked diplomatic rancour with soccer.

"Where is all the talk about it?" said Ichiro Tomooka, an avid Japanese fan.

"I don't have such concerns and there is nobody around me who is getting excited about that," said the 35-year-old editor, who plans to cheer on Japan from the stands on Wednesday.

Another Japanese fan, who has gone to just about every Japan international match in recent years, agreed: "It's wrong for the media to focus attention on this match because of the political background."

Many Japanese were outraged late last year after North Korea failed to satisfy Japan's demands for proof of the fate of eight abductees North Korea has said are dead, and of another two Japan believes were kidnapped.

Opinion polls show the majority of Japanese voters would support economic sanctions against impoverished North Korea.

"We can't let North Korea make a fool of us any longer," said Kohei Yokoyama, secretary-general of Issuikai, one of Japan's most prominent right-wing groups.

For its part, North Korea has recently stepped up its anti-Japanese rhetoric, denouncing Japan for its past militarism, saying Tokyo has not sufficiently repented for its colonisation of the Korean peninsula before and during World War Two.

"THIS IS SPORTS"

Some officials worry that members of right-wing Japanese groups might attack North Korea fans at the match.

But Yokoyama said politics and sports were separate and his group had no plans to express its views at the soccer match by mobilising their trademark speaker trucks, that blare out their messages.

"This is sports. If we do something here, then we end up lowering ourselves just like the Chinese," Yokoyama said.

Chinese fans booed Japanese players at an Asian Cup match in China last year, where resentment of Japan is also common. China fans rioted after Japan won.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has said he wants to avoid such incidents and authorities are taking precautions to make sure all the action is on the pitch.

A bloc of about 5,000 seats has been set aside for North Korea fans and empty seats will flank both sides of those seats, JFA officials said.

The JFA has also asked North Korean fans to come to the stadium on special buses to avoid any confrontation with Japanese fans.

The association plans to increase the number of security guards usually mobilised for such a match to about 1,400 from 1,000, and set up metal detectors at the stadium's gates.

About 2,000 police will also be on duty.

Officials at the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryong), a group representing pro-Pyongyang Koreans, said they hoped the match might contribute to an improvement in relations.