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Arrangements on for five-way N. Korea talks: Report
Tokyo, June 01: Arrangements are underway for holding five-country talks on North Korea`s nuclear programme that could include Pyongyang and take place in Malaysia as early as the end of June.
Tokyo, June 01: Arrangements are underway for holding
five-country talks on North Korea's nuclear programme that could
include Pyongyang and take place in Malaysia as early as the end of
June.
Government sources quoted by the daily Sankei Shimbun said that
the talks would include the United States, China, Japan, South
and North Korea and that they could take place in Kuala
Lumpur.
They added that China had expressed its ''understanding'' of the
talks and that North Korea was being urged to take part, but no
further details were given.
The plan is likely to be discussed at talks between senior
Japanese, South Korean and US officials likely in Hawaii later in
June, the sources were quoted as saying.
The United States wants to hold multilateral talks with North
Korea, but Pyongyang insists they be bilateral.
Japanese foreign ministry officials were not available for comment on the report, but Shinzo Abe, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary and one of the government's key point men on North Korea, said nothing had been decided yet.
''However, at the TCOG meetings, arrangements are being made for talks to take place as soon as possible,'' Abe told a television talk show. The Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) is a forum involving senior officials from Japan, South Korea and the United States that meets periodically.
''The United States has made it very clear that it wants Japan and South Korea to take part, and I believe it is best if the talks continue in that fashion,'' he added.
Prime minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed to try to bring North Korea and Washington back to the negotiating table at a summit in the Russian city of St Petersburg yesterday.
Koizumi is also set to hold a meeting with South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun in Tokyo next saturday.
China, North Korea and the United States held three-way talks in Beijing in april to try to resolve the confrontation over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme. Tokyo and Seoul, which had hoped to take part, were left out because of Pyongyang's opposition.
North Korea, however, appeared to soften its stance slightly last week when it said in a statement quoted by Japan's Kyodo news agency that it would agree to U.S. demands for multilateral talks that included South Korea and Japan if Pyongyang and Washington held bilateral talks first.
Bureau Report
Japanese foreign ministry officials were not available for comment on the report, but Shinzo Abe, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary and one of the government's key point men on North Korea, said nothing had been decided yet.
''However, at the TCOG meetings, arrangements are being made for talks to take place as soon as possible,'' Abe told a television talk show. The Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) is a forum involving senior officials from Japan, South Korea and the United States that meets periodically.
''The United States has made it very clear that it wants Japan and South Korea to take part, and I believe it is best if the talks continue in that fashion,'' he added.
Prime minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed to try to bring North Korea and Washington back to the negotiating table at a summit in the Russian city of St Petersburg yesterday.
Koizumi is also set to hold a meeting with South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun in Tokyo next saturday.
China, North Korea and the United States held three-way talks in Beijing in april to try to resolve the confrontation over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme. Tokyo and Seoul, which had hoped to take part, were left out because of Pyongyang's opposition.
North Korea, however, appeared to soften its stance slightly last week when it said in a statement quoted by Japan's Kyodo news agency that it would agree to U.S. demands for multilateral talks that included South Korea and Japan if Pyongyang and Washington held bilateral talks first.
Bureau Report