Beijing, Aug 05: China today announced that its
Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing would visit Japan and South
Korea ahead of the multilateral talks on the North Korean
nuclear issue.
Li will visit Tokyo from August 10 to 13, at the
invitation of Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, and
Seoul from August 13 to 15 at the invitation of South Korean
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Yoon Young-Kwan.
The Chinese Foreign Minister will discuss bilateral
relations and other issues of common concern with his hosts,
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said.
Diplomatic sources attached importance to Li's planned
visits to Japan and South Korea as both countries, neighbours
of North Korea, are expected to play a leading role in the
upcoming "Beijing talks" which would now assume a
multilateral mode for the first time.
North Korea, accused by the United States of pursuing a
secret nuclear weapons programme, indicated its willingness
yesterday for multilateral talks on the nuclear issue.
Apart from North Korea, the Beijing talks would be
attended by China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United
States.
Bureau Report
