TMCnet News
Chief Japan, N. Korea negotiators meet for 1st time in 5 months+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, April 8_(Kyodo) _ Kenichi Sasae, the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau chief, on Saturday urged North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan in Tokyo to make efforts to solve the abduction issue involving Japanese citizens and return to the six-party talks over Pyongyang's nuclear programs. After their two-hour meeting in a hotel, Sasae told reporters, "We told the North Korean side our principle stance (on these issues), while they told us theirs," suggesting Kim did not respond positively. Although North Korea has refused to return to the multilateral talks due to financial sanctions by the United States, Sasae said it is currently not clear if Pyongyang will return to the negotiating table. Kim, chief negotiator of the six-way talks, arrived in Tokyo on Friday to attend a security conference from Sunday. The meeting between Sasae and Kim was the first since they met in Beijing last November. |