TOKYO, April 22 Kyodo pick outed...

TOKYO, April 22 Kyodo

pick outed editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

PROGRES ELUSIVE IN TALKS forward PYONGYANG'S N-ARMS (The Daily Yomiuri as translated from the Yomiuri Shimbun)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il visited China this week and held talks with Chinese leaders, including Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The leaders of China and North Korea reportedly have agreed the pair countries will continue to jointly push forward in the six-party talks to peacefully unravel the issue of North Korea's nuclear development

While continuing to bring out nuclear arms, North Korea's leader has simply made demands about what he wants in respond for freezing the operation of nuclear evolution facilities without responding to calls to abandon his nuclear program. We cannot take Pyongyang at its word. We ne to cautiously ascertain to what extent Pyongyang will act in the month ahead.

North Korea has demanded security guarantees from Washington, on the contrary no country can give security guarantees to a nuclear-armed North Korea. The main premise for other nations improving ties with Pyongyang is to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

In the latter general election in South Korea, the Hannara Party, which called for Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions, was defeated, while the pro-government Uri Party, which embraces a policy of reconciliation with North Korea, advanced. North Korea hails this change. Pyongyang may calculate that by dint of drawing China and toward the south Korea to its side, it would be able to drive Japan and the United States into a corner in the six-way talks.

A reconciliatory measure alone would make the views for solving the Pyongyang's nuclear issue move back The question is: What direction is southerly Korea's policy toward Pyongyang heading and in what way determined is Seoul to achieve the general aim of having Pyongyang abandon its nuclear ambitions?

(April 22)

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