TMCnet News
3RD LD: Japan, N. Korea officials meet on 6-way nuke talks+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, April 9_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: COMPILING STORY HEADLINED 'CHIEF JAPAN, S. KOREA, U.S. DELEGATES TO MEET MONDAY IN TOKYO,' ADDING CHINESE CHIEF NEGOTIATOR'S ARRIVAL) Senior Japanese and North Korean officials held another set of talks Sunday in Tokyo on the stalled six-party talks on the North's nuclear program as bilateral diplomacy went into high gear on the sidelines of a private multilateral security conference. Tadamichi Yamamoto, Japanese ambassador in charge of North Korea's nuclear issue, met with Jong Thae Yang, deputy head of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's U.S. Affairs Department. Kenichiro Sasae, Japan's chief negotiator to the six-party talks and head of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, met with Chun Young Woo, South Korea's chief delegate and deputy foreign minister, Sunday night in Tokyo. Sasae told reporters that he and Chun agreed that Japan and South Korea will continue to cooperate in urging North Korea to return to the six-party talks. Chun told reporters that chief Japanese, South Korean and U.S. negotiators to the six-party talks will meet Monday afternoon in Tokyo. Yamamoto is believed to have urged North Korea to return to the negotiating table of the six-party talks at an early date. "I told Mr. Jong that Japan wants to discuss security issues and convey its position, taking every opportunity," Yamamoto told reporters after meeting with the North Korean official. The Yamamoto-Jong talks followed a meeting Saturday between Sasae and North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan. Kim, who is visiting Japan to attend the security conference, is the chief North Korean delegate to the nuclear talks. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill, who represents the U.S. at the six-party talks, will arrive in Japan on Monday for the private security conference -- the 17th Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue meeting, sponsored by the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso suggested earlier Sunday that Sasae and North Korea's Kim may meet again in Tokyo to discuss the North's abductions of Japanese citizens and the suspended six-nation nuclear talks. "We'll continue talks," Aso said on an NHK TV program Sunday morning. A senior ministry official said the bilateral meeting could come Monday. Aso also referred to the possibility of direct talks between North Korea and the United States in Tokyo, saying, "There might be a scene of direct meeting." Earlier Sunday, Chun told reporters that it would be difficult to expect significant progress in Tokyo on the stalled nuclear talks. Chun, who met Kim in Tokyo on Saturday, said he sees no big change in North Korea's negotiating stance. China's chief negotiator and vice foreign minister Wu Dawei arrived Sunday night to attend the security conference. Speaking to reporters, Wu said he hopes the six-party talks will be resumed early. He also said he will meet with Kim and Sasae separately on Monday. The six-party talks were last held in Beijing in November. China has hosted the nuclear talks that began in August 2003. The talks have been deadlocked since North Korea refused to return to the negotiating table unless the United States lifts financial sanctions it imposed on entities suspected of money laundering and counterfeiting for North Korea. Washington has stressed the sanctions are law enforcement matters unrelated to the talks and urged the North to return to the table. |