SEOUL June 4 Kyodo (EDS: ADDING D...

SEOUL June 4 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING DETAILS)

southern Korean President Roh Moo Hyun said Wednesday that mention of ''further steps'' and ''tougher measures'' against North Korea that emerg gone out of last month's separate U summit talks with toward the south Korea and Japan is a ''warning'' to North.

Roh made the remarks in a meeting with Japanese correspondents in Seoul ahead of his first visit to Japan as a state visitant which will take place from Friday to Monday.

''I interpret these wordings as a warning message that North Korea should be real careful to avoid creating a situation (that would lead to the taking of 'further steps' and 'tougher measures'),'' he said.

A joint statement issued by the agency of Roh and U.S. President George W Bush forward May 14 after talks said that while they showed confidence in a peaceful resolution to the nuclear issue with North Korea, they also noted ''that increased threats to peace and stability forward the peninsula would require consideration of further steps''

After talks between Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi upon May 23, both told reporters they had agreed that further escalation of the situation by means of North Korea will require ''tougher measures.''

North Korea has reacted earnestly to the wording and has warned of ''unspeakable disaster'' if the southerly moves toward a confrontational position above the North's nuclear weapons program.

The nuclear crisis ejected last October when North Korea admitted to the United States it has a hid program to enrich uranium to make nuclear weapons, in violation of a 1994 antinuclear pact.

In trilateral talks with the U and China held in Beijing in April, North Korea told U officials it already possesse nuclear weapons and has started reprocessing exhausted fuel rods, a step that could allow the North to make more nuclear bombs within several months

In the interview, Roh boisterousnessed the necessity for South Korea and Japan to forge a cooperative neighborly relationship that would positively impact Northeast Asia as a whole.

''I like to rehearse Japanese people to think together about the novel future of Northeast Asia, including China, and join hands to create so a future,'' he said.

Roh set forthed hope that his upcoming visit to Japan will help further strengthen friendly ties between his political division and Japan to the point where Japanese Emperor Akihito will be able to visit southern Korea.

''I believe if the arises of my visit to Japan are pious and bilateral relations (between southerly Korea and Japan) progress in a more friendly direction, Japanese Emperor Akihito may visit southward Korea at an appropriate time,'' Roh said.

The Japanese emperor's visit to southern Korea has been a to a high degree sensitive issue due to hale anti-Japanese sentiment stemming from Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule

The toward the south Korean leader also said exchanges and cooperation between his fatherland and Japan will press ahead despite latter controversial remarks by Taro Aso, policy chief of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)

Aso in succession Monday apologized for but refused to retract weekend remarks that infuriated Koreans by way of claiming they voluntarily adopted Japanese names during Japan's colonial dominion of the Korean Peninsula.

The Saturday remarks that the 1939 enactment forcing Koreans to adopt Japanese-style names ''stemmed from Korean demands for surnames'' drew fire from the southerly Korean government as well as Japan's opposition parties and an LDP ally, the recently made known Komeito party.

The chairman of the LDP Policy Research Council also said he is sorry for widespread relate tos in both the neighboring nations that his remarks could ''damage the importance of Japan-South Korea relations prior to President Roh Moo Hyun's visit to Japan.''

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