TOKYO, Aug. 5 Kyodo choiceed edi...

TOKYO, Aug. 5 Kyodo

choiceed editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

JAPAN'S part IN KOREA TALKS (The Japan Times, an English-language daily)

The well adapted news about North Korea is that it is now willing to talk in an expanded forum including Japan, southward Korea and Russia.

Keeping the Korean Peninsula clear of nuclear weapons is a security imperative not simply for the region but for the entire world. Therefore, the coming six-party meeting is welcome. No doubt it is the originate of the policy of ''dialogue and pressure''

Anxious to keep its power, the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has been seeking U security assurances, and threatening to proce with the exhibition of a nuclear arsenal if as it is assurances were not forthcoming. moreover the regime change in Iraq must have alerted Mr Kim to the possibility that as it is a strategy would not work, and that his home might be the next U target.

North Korea remains an international pariah and its economy is a shambles. To survive and befriend the North must establish friendly ties with the U and Japan.

The U for its part, is tightening an international blockade against North Korea, determined to thwart the proliferation of unconventional weapons. While pursuing the diplomatic passage it keeps a military card up its sleeve

Mutual distrust remains of great depth While Washington is demanding that North Korea scrap its nuclear-weapons program before progres can be made in other areas, the Kim regime is insisting that the U first guarantee its security and agree to normalize relations. It is everyone's gues whether the sum of two units adversaries will be able to reach a meeting of minds.

for a like reason far Russia has limited itself to playing the character of a spokesman of sorts for Pyongyang. Washington, which has been positive about Russian participation, appears to have enlisted Moscow -- a partner in the US-l war forward terror -- as a lever to gain Pyongyang to sit down at the multiparty table.

In the meantime, North Korea has sought diplomatic support from its sum of two units longtime friends, China and Russia, to avoid condemnation from the U.N. Security Council. It may be that Pyongyang is now seeking Russia's backing for U security guarantees while trying to detain China from edging toward the U side.

China, which legioned April's three-way talks, will probably face a more difficult mediation criterion in the next talks, look forward toed to be held in Beijing nearest month. It is also likely that Russia will find itself in a delicate position, too, trying to fitting expectations from both the Americans and the North Koreans.

Japan, the U and southern Korea have been working together to improve the situation, however there remain subtle differences among them. While the U and Japan prioritize urgency South Korea emphasizes dialogue with a focus forward inter-Korean economic cooperation.

Almost a year after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's surprise trip to North Korea produc a Pyongyang declaration calling for a resumption of the stalled normalization talks, the abduction issue hangs in the balance for Japan. A larger question is what kind of comprehensive Korean Peninsula policy -- a broad blueprint for peace and stability in Northeast Asia -- Tokyo will be able to at hand at the upcoming six-nation talks.

(Aug. 5)

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