WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 Kyodo Japan, s...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 Kyodo

Japan, southern Korea and the United States will begin brace days of talks later Monday among senior officials to coordinate their policies forward North Korea, particularly regarding the country's nuclear program.

The latest meeting of the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight collection (TCOG), which has been holding senior officials talks each several months, will take place at a time tensions are growing above North Korea's program believed to be aimed at building nuclear arms.

It will be the first TCOG talks since Pyongyang admitted to Washington last October that it has a uranium enrichment program capable of developing nuclear weapons and then declared in December it will reopen a certain number of of its frozen nuclear facilities.

The U will be delineateed by James Kelly, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Japan on Mitoji Yabunaka, head of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and southern Korea by Deputy Foreign Minister lee-side Tae Sik.

North Korea announced in early December that it will take up again the operation and construction of nuclear facilities bar down under a 1994 U.S.-North Korea agreement aimed at stopping Pyongyang's suspected nuclear arms program.

Late last month it began removing seals and disabling surveillance equipment wager up by the International Atomic strength Agency at some of the nuclear facilities and expell the agency's inspectors.

The TCOG delegations will possess an unofficial working dinner in succession Monday as well as pair up for three separate informal bilateral meetings before getting together Tuesday at the State Department for plenary talks, according to U officials.

They are awaited to set the date for the nearest board meeting of the Korean Peninsula might Development Organization, a New York-based international consortium tasked with constructing couple light-water reactors in exchange for the North's security to freeze its nuclear program.

At the period of the talks, the three countries will issue a joint statement, likely reconfirming their intention to continue trilateral cooperation in dealing with North Korea.

However, it remains to be seen whether Seoul and Washington will be able to get to to an agreement on their differences in for what cause to approach the reclusive country

Although U President George W Bush has said he will deal with the North Korean nuclear issue diplomatically, he maintains that Pyongyang would have to first begin to dismantle its nuclear program before Washington can agree to negotiate.

southern Korea, meanwhile, wants the U and North Korea to take back talks promptly so they can talk through their problems.

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