Japan`s top nuke negotiator backs N. Korea`s return to terror list

WASHINGTON, June 9 Kyodo -
Japan's chief delegate to the six-party talks on dismantling North Korea's
nuclear arsenal threw his support Tuesday for the United States to add
Pyongyang back to its list of terror-sponsoring nations.
Akitaka Saiki, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and
Oceanian Affairs Bureau, told reporters that he hopes the United States will
make ''some political decision'' and restore North Korea's status as a terror
sponsor.
''Japan will give considerable attention to what the United States decides,''
said Saiki, who is visiting Washington for consultations with U.S. officials
primarily over North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a television interview Sunday that
the United States is considering putting North Korea back on the blacklist in
response to Pyongyang's nuclear test in late May.
The United States removed North Korea from the list last October as part of
efforts to move forward the six-party talks, aimed at dismantling the North's
nuclear arsenal.
Saiki said he agreed with U.S. officials he met in the past two days that
Japan, the United States and South Korea should strengthen cooperation among
them to prevent North Korea from taking further provocative actions.
During his stay in Washington, Saiki met with such U.S. officials as Stephen
Bosworth, special representative on North Korea policy, and Wallace Gregson,
assistant secretary for Asia and the Pacific. He will return home on Wednesday.
==Kyodo