| Submit your comments on this article |
| Korea |
| Seoul to meet allies today |
| 2003-04-17 |
| Senior officials from South Korea, the United States and Japan will meet in Washington today to discuss a future course of action regarding the planned trilateral talks on North Korea's nuclear issue, Foreign Ministry officials said yesterday. Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck left for Washington in the day to tackle joint measures on the nuclear problem with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly and Japan's director general of Asian and Oceanian affairs, Mitoji Yabunaka. The meeting comes days ahead of three-way talks to be held between the United States, North Korea and China in Beijing next week, which are expected to pave the way for defusing the nuclear tension that has built up on the peninsula. A Foreign Ministry spokesman issued a statement yesterday that South Korea regards the trilateral meeting in Beijing as "an important step toward resolving the nuclear concern." "We will continue our diplomatic efforts to realize our participation in dialogue (on the nuclear issue) as our involvement in multilateral talks is vital to reaching an agreement on substantive issues," the statement said. It also said that the South will strive to see its position reflected in the trilateral talks by closely cooperating with the United States and China. "We will also continue our efforts for an early resolution of the nuclear issue through South-North dialogue channels," it said. With initial trilateral talks on North Korea's nuclear issue set to begin without South Korea's presence, the Seoul government has been striving for its early inclusion in future consultations over the issue of nuclear proliferation. In Washington, senior officials from South Korea, the United States and Japan will work out joint measures to direct the nuclear issue to a peaceful conclusion. "The South will also exchange opinions with the United States and Japan for the South to attend multilateral talks at an early date," a ministry official said. The official said Lee will stress to his American and Japanese counterparts that essential discussions on the nuclear problem should wait until after the South joins the dialogue. U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said yesterday the United States will make it a priority to include South Korea and Japan in nuclear talks as their participation is "essential to reach substantive results." "We will continue to press for Japan's and South Korea's early inclusion in the talks - that will be one of our priorities," Reeker said. Seoul officials predicted that the United States, North Korea and China will exchange their opinions on operations and an agenda for future consultations when they meet in Beijing. They also said the North's nuclear issue will top the agenda. The tension between North Korea and the United States has escalated since the North admitted to having harbored a secret nuclear program using highly enriched uranium in October last year. North Korea is expected to raise the issue of the U.S. providing a security guarantee Sorry - couldn't resist the one shot.. |
| Posted by:Tadderly |
| #2 First (and only) item on the agenda: Agreement on when South Korea and Japan can attend the talks as participants. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-04-17 17:46:36 |
| #1 We should demand that SoKorea and Japan have a seat at the table. They are the ones keeping the NK raft afloat. If China doesn't go for that, hey! at least WE tried....(PR goals attained....) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-04-17 16:38:22 |