Aso, Obama to cooperate on resumption of six-party talks

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TOKYO, April 24 Kyodo -
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and U.S. President Barack Obama affirmed
Friday they would cooperate toward a resumption of six-party talks aimed at
denuclearizing North Korea, Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said.
In their telephone talks, Aso and Obama agreed that their countries had worked
together closely in response to North Korea's April 5 firing of a rocket, which
led to the adoption of a U.N. Security Council presidential statement
condemning the launch, the officials said.
The two leaders agreed to proceed with their joint efforts to resume talks in
the six-party framework, which have been stalled since last December over how
to verify North Korea's nuclear activities.
Pyongyang said after the UNSC action that it will walk out of six-party talks,
which involve the two Koreas, Japan, the United States, China and Russia.
North Korea claims the launch was intended to put a communications satellite
into orbit, but many countries, including Japan, the United States and South
Korea, suspect it was a cover for a long-range ballistic missile test.
The leaders also reaffirmed a policy of pursuing action in line with the
Security Council statement, which has led to discussions at a UNSC sanctions
committee about freezing the assets of North Korean entities.
Aso and Obama agreed on the importance of bilateral cooperation between Japan
and the United States as well as trilateral cooperation among Japan, the United
States and South Korea on dealing with North Korean issues, Chief Cabinet
Secretary Takeo Kawamura told a news conference.
On nuclear disarmament, Aso told Obama that he supports a comprehensive review
of Washington's nuclear policy built upon an Obama speech delivered in Prague
earlier this month, which called for a world without nuclear weapons.
Obama told Aso that he places importance on nuclear disarmament and
nonproliferation, adding that the United States would like to work on the issue
with Japan, which the U.S. president called the leader in this field, the
Foreign Ministry officials said.
Regarding the prospect of a visit to Japan, Obama said he is looking forward to
realizing a trip in the latter half of this year.
In providing assistance to Pakistan, considered by the United States and its
allies to be a front-line state in the fight against terrorism, Obama expressed
appreciation for Japan's hosting of a donors conference last week in Tokyo,
where about 40 countries and international organizations pledged a total of
more than $5 billion in aid to the Southwest Asian country.
==Kyodo
2009-04-24 22:58:22