N. Korea appears anxious to hold talks with Japan, Yang tells Okada

BEIJING, Oct. 9 Kyodo -
Visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said he was told by his
Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi on Friday that North Korea ''appeared anxious''
earlier this week to hold talks with Japan on bilateral issues.
Pyongyang's stance is believed to reflect apparent expectations for improved
relations with Japan under the government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama,
which was launched last month.
Japan and North Korea, which do not have diplomatic ties, have not held talks
since August last year, with North Korean officials blaming what they said was
a ''hostile'' policy toward Pyongyang by the Cabinet of former Prime Minister
Taro Aso. Aso's Liberal Democratic Party suffered a crushing defeat by
Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan in the Aug. 30 general election.
Foreign Minister Yang accompanied Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during his recent
trip to Pyongyang for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
Okada said Yang appeared to be convinced that North Korea would return to the
six-party talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions after winning certain
results from bilateral talks with the United States.
Kim told Wen during talks Monday in Pyongyang that the North is ready to rejoin
the six-party talks depending on the outcome of bilateral negotiations with the
United States to address the North Korean nuclear standoff.
Pyongyang has boycotted the multilateral dialogue involving the two Koreas, the
United States, China, Japan and Russia due to U.N. sanctions for its nuclear
and missile tests earlier in the year. The North has been calling for
one-on-one talks with Washington for a breakthrough.
==Kyodo
2009-10-09 23:02:10