Japan presses North Korea to rejoin nuclear disarmament talks

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, left, stands up to respond to opposition Democratic party leader Katsuya Okada, right, during a one-on-one debate at Parliament in Tokyo Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005. Regarding the stalled six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear threats, Koizumi said later in the day, that it would be advantageous for North Korea to take advantage of the six-nation talks to join the international community and he wanted the North to attend the talks unconditionally.(AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

Associated Press

Prospects for resuming discussions appeared to dim earlier this month when North Korea declared it had nuclear weapons and would boycott the talks. But on Monday, the communist country's leader Kim Jong Il hinted at a possible compromise, telling a Chinese envoy his government would return to the negotiating table if certain unspecified conditions are met.

In previous talks, North Korea has demanded more aid and a peace treaty with Washington in exchange for giving up its nuclear program.

Kim told the Chinese envoy that a resumption of six-party negotiations depended not only on the United States but on changes in Japan's position, Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

He complained that Tokyo was blocking the talks by demanding a settlement of a dispute over North Korea's kidnapping of Japanese citizens more than 25 years ago, the report quoted a source close to the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang as saying. North Korea insists the dispute has been resolved, but Japan is demanding a full accounting of the kidnap victims.

"Instead of criticizing Japan all the time, it would be in North Korea's interests to get on board at the six-party talks," Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters in Tokyo. "They should quickly make good use of the six-party framework and gain the confidence of the international community. I hope they understand this point and attend unconditionally."

Resuming the stalled talks gained urgency after North Korea claimed on Feb. 10 that it has nuclear weapons.

"It's inappropriate for North Korea to attach conditions to returning to the talks," South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday. "The North must come to the talks unconditionally and then it can present its differences and all the parties can try to strike a deal through negotiations."

The meeting in Seoul, scheduled for Saturday, will bring together South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon; Kenichiro Sasae, director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asia-Oceania bureau; and Christopher Hill, U.S. ambassador to Seoul, who was named Washington's top negotiator.

The three allies, which routinely coordinate their strategies on ending North Korea's nuclear threats, will try to work out remaining differences, Japanese Ambassador Toshiyuki Takano said in Seoul.

He did not elaborate, but Hill this week warned that Pyongyang could try to exploit divisions if the nations participating in multilateral discussions do not adopt a unified approach.

Since 2003, Beijing has hosted three rounds of talks involving China, the two Koreas, the United States, Russia and Japan, with little progress reported. A fourth round scheduled for last September never took place because North Korea refused to attend, citing what it calls a "hostile" U.S. policy.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice agreed in a telephone conversation Tuesday night that "the six-party talks should be resumed as early as possible," the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The United States is demanding that the North immediately dismantle all nuclear facilities.

"All of the other five parties ... are in fact ready to return to the table at an early date and without preconditions," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Tuesday. "It's only North Korea that claims current conditions are unfavorable."