ID :
195477
Mon, 07/18/2011 - 07:15
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/195477
The shortlink copeid
Nuclear envoys of S. Korea, Japan to discuss N. Korea, Dokdo
SEOUL, July 18 (Yonhap) -- The nuclear envoys of South Korea and Japan were to meet in Seoul on Monday to discuss ways to deal with North Korea's nuclear program and the latest diplomatic spat over Seoul's easternmost islets of Dokdo, officials said.
Japanese nuclear envoy Shinsuke Sugiyama, who is also in charge of handling relations with South Korea, arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a two-day visit, but his trip is burdened by Tokyo's one-month ban on its diplomats' booking with Korean Air in protest over the airline's flight last month above the Dokdo islets.
Sugiyama was scheduled to have a lunch meeting with South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator Wi Sung-lac on Monday for talks on issues including North Korea and Dokdo, a foreign ministry official said.
South Korea last week expressed "strong regret and disappointment" over the Japanese government's measure against Korean Air, demanding Japan immediately withdraw it and warning of "various countermeasures" unless Tokyo does so.
Upon arrival in Seoul, Sugiyama told Yonhap News Agency that Japan has made no decision on the ban against Korean Air, but he will discuss the matter with South Korean officials.
During the Monday meeting, Wi and Sugiyama are expected to reaffirm their joint stance that North Korea must improve its bilateral relations with South Korea before the resumption of the six-party talks, ahead of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) conference this week in Indonesia, officials said.
The ARF is the region's biggest security forum. Among those attending are top diplomats from the six nations involved in negotiations aimed at convincing North Korea to give up its nuclear program -- the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.
The six-party talks have been stalled since December 2008 due to North Korea's boycott and tensions over its provocations, such as nuclear and missile tests and its deadly military attacks on South Korea last year.
Pyongyang has claimed since early this year that it wants to rejoin the negotiations amid its deepening economic woes in the wake of international sanctions for its provocations.
But South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are wary of the North's overtures, citing its past pattern of raising tensions with provocations and then demanding dialogue to win concessions.
Japanese nuclear envoy Shinsuke Sugiyama, who is also in charge of handling relations with South Korea, arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a two-day visit, but his trip is burdened by Tokyo's one-month ban on its diplomats' booking with Korean Air in protest over the airline's flight last month above the Dokdo islets.
Sugiyama was scheduled to have a lunch meeting with South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator Wi Sung-lac on Monday for talks on issues including North Korea and Dokdo, a foreign ministry official said.
South Korea last week expressed "strong regret and disappointment" over the Japanese government's measure against Korean Air, demanding Japan immediately withdraw it and warning of "various countermeasures" unless Tokyo does so.
Upon arrival in Seoul, Sugiyama told Yonhap News Agency that Japan has made no decision on the ban against Korean Air, but he will discuss the matter with South Korean officials.
During the Monday meeting, Wi and Sugiyama are expected to reaffirm their joint stance that North Korea must improve its bilateral relations with South Korea before the resumption of the six-party talks, ahead of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) conference this week in Indonesia, officials said.
The ARF is the region's biggest security forum. Among those attending are top diplomats from the six nations involved in negotiations aimed at convincing North Korea to give up its nuclear program -- the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.
The six-party talks have been stalled since December 2008 due to North Korea's boycott and tensions over its provocations, such as nuclear and missile tests and its deadly military attacks on South Korea last year.
Pyongyang has claimed since early this year that it wants to rejoin the negotiations amid its deepening economic woes in the wake of international sanctions for its provocations.
But South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are wary of the North's overtures, citing its past pattern of raising tensions with provocations and then demanding dialogue to win concessions.
