Japan, U.S. seek 5-party talks on N.Korea in Hanoi
Source: Reuters
(Adds quotes including from South Korean Foreign Minister Ban) By Linda Sieg TOKYO, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Japan and the United States want their foreign ministers to meet counterparts from China, South Korea and Russia next week to discuss North Korea's nuclear arms programmes, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said on Monday. The proposed meeting would take place on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum meeting in Hanoi, Aso told reporters after talks with U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns and U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Robert Joseph. North Korea, which conducted a nuclear test on Oct. 9, agreed last week to rejoin six-party talks on its nuclear programmes after staying away for a year in protest at a U.S. crackdown on its international finances. Those talks bring together the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. "What is most important is that the five parties maintain close solidarity," Aso said. Pyongyang's nuclear test drew worldwide condemnation and U.N. sanctions. China, North Korea's biggest backer, has supported the U.N. sanctions, which target trade in large conventional weapons, weapons of mass destruction and luxury goods. Aso said the United States and Japan had agreed that North Korea should not be recognised as a nuclear power and the resumption of six-party talks should not spell a relaxation of sanctions imposed following the Oct. 9 nuclear test. "Reopening the six-way talks is not the objective. The six-party talks are a means, and the objective is for them to give up nuclear weapons," Aso said. Burns, speaking separately, said Japan and the United States saw "eye to eye on the question of North Korea" and rejected a call by Pyongyang for Tokyo to stay away from the nuclear talks. "These are six-party talks. The United States believes that one of our most important partners in this configuration is Japan," Burns told reporters. "Obviously, we all stick together and we are all partners in these negotiations." BUMPY ROAD North Korea said on Saturday that Japan should not bother to attend the six-party talks because Tokyo was refusing to recognise Pyongyang as a nuclear weapons state and because Japan was no more than a "state" of the United States. South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon, who takes over as U.N. secretary-general in January, agreed Japan should take part. "Japan has participated from the very beginning and has made a contribution, so it is desirable for Japan to continue to take part. They are called the six-party talks, so without Japan, they would no longer be six-party talks," Ban told a news conference in Tokyo after meeting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, speaking to the National Assembly in Seoul, said the six-way talks faced a rough road. "It will require diverse procedures and take a long time before the nuclear issue is resolved completely," said Roh, who also said the North's pursuit of nuclear weapons would hurt Pyongyang's leaders and further damage their already weak economy. Zhang Liangui, an expert on North Korea at China's Central Party School, a Beijing think tank, told a seminar in Tokyo that Pyongyang's desire to be recognised as a nuclear power meant the six-way talks were likely to drag on. "They are likely to be marathon talks and it will be difficult to achieve progress," Zhang said. Joseph said Tokyo and Washington have agreed that a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for sanctions on North Korea should continue to be implemented fully until Pyongyang meets all its demands, including the irreversible, verifiable and complete elimination of its nuclear programme. "We are of one mind that this resolution provides the way ahead," he told reporters. The U.S. officials are expected to head for Seoul later on Monday, and from there to travel to Beijing and Moscow. (Additional reporting by George Nishiyama and Teruaki Ueno)
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