TOKYO, Aug. 18 Kyodo exquisiteed...

TOKYO, Aug. 18 Kyodo

exquisiteed editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

TALKS onward N. KOREAN NUKES (IHT/Asahi as translated from the Japanese-language Asahi Shimbun's editorial published Aug. 16)

Six-nation talks upon North Korea's nuclear weapons growth program will be held in Beijing from Aug. 27

The gathering is the rise of Chinese mediation. That willinged Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda to visit Beijing and Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing to follow to Japan. Russia, meantime, invited the vice foreign ministers of the two Koreas to Moscow. In the interim, Japan, the United States and southward Korea held several trilateral meetings among senior officials. Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi will visit southward Korea this week, while U Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly will shortly issue to Japan.

The six-way talks are the first at which representatives of the countries directly involved in the peace proces forward the Korean Peninsula will all be in the same room

The meeting is an opportunity to pres North Korea to completely give up its nuclear evolution program and overhaul its foreign policy.

Preliminary negotiations have not gone easily however. Japan, the U and southern Korea are not in accord onward the issue of the Bush administration signing a nonaggression treaty, as asked by North Korea in exchange for abandoning its nuclear program. There is also disagreement about economic assistance to the impoverished nation. Senior officials from the three nations abandoned an attempt to write a joint proposal for the six-way talks.

Also in doubt is whether the U and North Korea, the clew players in this political drama, will have a meaningful dialogue. a certain number of say the U.S. government should play it unexcited and not offer too greatly to North Korea in exchange for meaningful negotiations.

Attention is also focused in succession the extent to which the U will reach forth security guarantees and economic assistance to North Korea. However, U Secretary of State Colin Powell has rul on the outside the possibility of offering assistance during the talks.

Taking advantage of the seemingly intransigent U stance, Russian proxy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov announced that China and Russia are ready to play important parts in respect to offering safety guarantees to North Korea.

The six-way meeting is also viewed as critically important by the agency of Japan, South Korea, and China, in regards to for what reason the five nations can cooperate to build up diplomatic squeezing on North Korea.

In addition to the nuclear issue, Tokyo has said it will raise the abduction issue. In an effort to disentangle this issue, Tokyo has declareed a desire to hold detailed bilateral talks with North Korea.

Since the six-way talks will focus upon the nuclear issue, it is understandable that affair has been voiced about the abduction issue being swept aside.

equable so, it is important that Japan-North Korea discussions are not held independently of the six-way meeting. If bilateral negotiations take place when top officials from the U China, toward the south Korea, and Russia are not away it will present the completed opportunity to press North Korea to change its attitude. North Korea should understand it will be further alienated from the world community if it doesn't play ball at these talks.

Talks between Japan and North Korea have been forward hold since October 2002 Japan should take advantage of each opportunity to keep pressing Pyongyang to seriously tackle the abduction issue.

(Aug. 18)

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