ID :
16401
Wed, 08/20/2008 - 00:25
Auther :
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https://oananews.org//node/16401
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Japan, S. Korea reaffirm need to start verifying N. Korea nukes soon
Ministry said.
Saiki, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and Kim, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs for the South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry, also agreed to further strengthen cooperation, exchanging opinions on economic and energy aidto Pyongyang.
Kim told reporters after the meeting that he and Saiki discussed the need for members at the six-party talks to have ''perseverance'' and continuediscussions with close cooperation.
The hour-long talks in Tokyo came on the heels of Kim's meeting with their U.S.
counterpart in New York last Friday.
The second stage of Pyongyang's denuclearization under a six-party accord struck last year has hit a snag over how to verify North Korea's declaration of its nuclear activities and who will be involved. The North has yet to agree with China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States on theverification protocol.
Saiki also briefed Kim on Japan's working-level negotiations with North Korea last week, including an agreement for the North to complete by fall its promised reinvestigation into cases of past abductions of Japanese nationals,ministry officials said.
He stressed the need to achieve concrete results that would lead to the return of surviving abductees to Japan. In response, Kim reiterated South Korea's support for Japan's position in seeking to resolve the abductions and other pending issues with the North, as well as Seoul's hopes for improvement inJapan-North Korea relations.
''We discussed the need for Japan and North Korea to achieve progress on investigating the abduction cases and to create an atmosphere where theJapanese government can take part in the provision of energy aid,'' Kim said.
The abduction issue remains a main hurdle preventing Japan and North Korea fromnormalizing diplomatic relations.
Tokyo insists that it will not join the four other nations in the six-party talks in providing North Korea with fuel oil in exchange for denuclearizationuntil progress is seen in resolving the abductions.
Tuesday's meeting was also the first senior level dialogue between the two countries since tensions arose last month over Japan's reemphasis of its claim to sovereignty over two South Korean-controlled islets, which sparked strong protests from Seoul and resulted in the South Korean ambassador beingtemporarily recalled.
While stopping short of specifically referring to the issue of the islets, known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea, Kim told reporters, ''The current situation between our two nations bears significant impact on the six-party talks and I feel this is very important.''Saiki was not available for immediate comment after the meeting.
In New York on Friday, Christopher Hill, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, stressed that North Korea should provide a complete verification plan that complies with ''international standards'' if itis to be removed from Washington's list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The United States has postponed the actual delisting of North Korea from Aug.
11, when U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was initially expected to take steps for the removal, after U.S. President George W. Bush notifiedCongress of his intention to do so in late June.
Aug. 10, the earliest possible date for removal, fell on a Sunday.
Tuesday's talks also followed foreign ministerial talks between China and SouthKorea in Seoul last week, and between China and Japan in Beijing on Sunday.
Saiki, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and Kim, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs for the South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry, also agreed to further strengthen cooperation, exchanging opinions on economic and energy aidto Pyongyang.
Kim told reporters after the meeting that he and Saiki discussed the need for members at the six-party talks to have ''perseverance'' and continuediscussions with close cooperation.
The hour-long talks in Tokyo came on the heels of Kim's meeting with their U.S.
counterpart in New York last Friday.
The second stage of Pyongyang's denuclearization under a six-party accord struck last year has hit a snag over how to verify North Korea's declaration of its nuclear activities and who will be involved. The North has yet to agree with China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States on theverification protocol.
Saiki also briefed Kim on Japan's working-level negotiations with North Korea last week, including an agreement for the North to complete by fall its promised reinvestigation into cases of past abductions of Japanese nationals,ministry officials said.
He stressed the need to achieve concrete results that would lead to the return of surviving abductees to Japan. In response, Kim reiterated South Korea's support for Japan's position in seeking to resolve the abductions and other pending issues with the North, as well as Seoul's hopes for improvement inJapan-North Korea relations.
''We discussed the need for Japan and North Korea to achieve progress on investigating the abduction cases and to create an atmosphere where theJapanese government can take part in the provision of energy aid,'' Kim said.
The abduction issue remains a main hurdle preventing Japan and North Korea fromnormalizing diplomatic relations.
Tokyo insists that it will not join the four other nations in the six-party talks in providing North Korea with fuel oil in exchange for denuclearizationuntil progress is seen in resolving the abductions.
Tuesday's meeting was also the first senior level dialogue between the two countries since tensions arose last month over Japan's reemphasis of its claim to sovereignty over two South Korean-controlled islets, which sparked strong protests from Seoul and resulted in the South Korean ambassador beingtemporarily recalled.
While stopping short of specifically referring to the issue of the islets, known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea, Kim told reporters, ''The current situation between our two nations bears significant impact on the six-party talks and I feel this is very important.''Saiki was not available for immediate comment after the meeting.
In New York on Friday, Christopher Hill, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, stressed that North Korea should provide a complete verification plan that complies with ''international standards'' if itis to be removed from Washington's list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The United States has postponed the actual delisting of North Korea from Aug.
11, when U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was initially expected to take steps for the removal, after U.S. President George W. Bush notifiedCongress of his intention to do so in late June.
Aug. 10, the earliest possible date for removal, fell on a Sunday.
Tuesday's talks also followed foreign ministerial talks between China and SouthKorea in Seoul last week, and between China and Japan in Beijing on Sunday.
