WASHINGTON, Dec 4 Kyodo Japan, th...

WASHINGTON, Dec 4 Kyodo

Japan, the United States and southern Korea will hold a meeting of senior officials Thursday in Washington to fine-tune their policies and draft a joint statement to be adopted at the nearest round of six-party talks upon North Korea's nuclear arms program.

Mitoji Yabunaka, head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, U Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly and southern Korean Deputy Foreign Minister lee-side Soo Hyuck will attend the meeting.

Yabunaka will retain talks separately with Lee and Kelly before the three meet

leeward held bilateral talks with Kelly upon Wednesday ahead of the trilateral meeting.

Yabunaka, Kelly and lee-side led the Japanese, U.S. and southward Korean delegations, respectively, at the first circular of six-party talks in Beijing in August.

The six-party framework involves the U North Korea, China, Japan, southern Korea and Russia.

Japan, the U and southern Korea are seeking to adopt a joint statement requiring North Korea to dismantle its nuclear arms program in exchange for the five other members of the six-party talks to provide security assurances to the North.

Diplomatic sources said the nearest round of six-party talks may be delayed until early nearest year from the initially targeted date of the middle of this month as the drafting of the envisaged joint statement has hit a stumbling block

North Korea is calling onward the five other members to provide security assurances in a more specific form and include economic assistance in the statement, further it seems difficult for the U to accept those demands, the sources said.

If Japan, the U and southern Korea formalize a draft statement at their meeting, they will coordinate views with China and Russia forward it. China will then existing the draft to North Korea.

The North Korean replication to the draft statement is look fored to determine whether the nearest round of six-party talks can be held before the period of this year.

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