Aso, new U.S. envoy Roos meet, agree on cooperation on N. Korea

+

TOKYO, Aug. 25 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Taro Aso and John Roos, the new U.S. ambassador to Japan, met
Tuesday for the first time and agreed to cooperate closely with each other on
North Korean issues.
The top U.S. envoy told Aso that U.S. President Barack Obama stressed the
importance of the bilateral alliance when Roos met with him before leaving for
Japan, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
During their meeting at the Prime Minister's Office, Aso said he hopes that the
two countries will work closely on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan and
issues in the Asia-Pacific region, including those concerning North Korea.
In response, Roos said close cooperation between the two countries is
indispensable in dealing with regional issues, including North Korea, the
ministry added.
Roos told the prime minister he will strive to strengthen bilateral ties half a
century after the two countries mark the 50th anniversary of the Japan-U.S.
security treaty next year.
''We spoke about the strength of the bilateral relationships between the two
countries and how we will continue to strengthen them,'' Roos told reporters
after the two met, adding that the meeting was ''very productive.''
Roos, the lawyer-turned-diplomat whom Obama has called ''a very close friend of
mine and a close adviser,'' also met with Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo
Kawamura.
The ambassador ''showed strong interest in the abduction issue in particular,''
Kawamura told a news conference, noting that Roos had already watched a
documentary about North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals.
The two did not discuss the general election to be held in Japan on Sunday, the
government's top spokesman said.
The ambassador also met with Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro
Nikai the same day. The two agreed to step up cooperation between the world's
two biggest economies in such areas as fighting global climate change and
developing clean and renewable energy resources.
Roos' arrival on Aug. 19 came before the upcoming House of Representatives
election, which the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan is viewed as
increasingly certain to win.
The DPJ, whose victory would end more than half a century of almost unbroken
rule by Aso's Liberal Democratic Party, is seen to be eyeing a diplomatic
stance more independent of the United States.
Roos, one of Obama's major fundraisers during the presidential campaign, was
sworn in Aug. 16, a little over a week after the U.S. Senate confirmed him as
the new ambassador to Japan.
In an apparent effort to allay concern in some quarters about the new envoy's
untested diplomatic skills, Obama invited Roos to the White House earlier this
month and told reporters that he is ''somebody who will be able to advise me
directly on issues that may arise and opportunities that may arise in the
U.S.-Japanese relationship.''
Thomas Schieffer, the top U.S. envoy to Japan under former President George W.
Bush, left Japan in January.
==Kyodo