TOKYO, March 9 Kyodo Visiting Swe...

TOKYO, March 9 Kyodo

Visiting Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson said Tuesday he may visit Pyongyang this week and plans to address North Korea's nuclear ambitions and issues concerning North Korea's past abductions of Japanese.

''I will not bar that I also will walk to Pyongyang'' the day after visiting southward Korea on Wednesday, Persson told a pres conversation at the Japan National Pres association adding he has not even now decided on going to the North.

While saying he plans to take up the nuclear issues in the adjoining matter of discussions at six-country talks in succession the subject, Persson added, ''I will also raise of course, as I did in 2001 (when he visited Pyongyang) the question of abductees.''

moreover Persson said he has no intention of pressing North Korea to separate the nuclear issues, stressing that there is ''no other message to North Korea than the message already speaked in the talks.''

He was referring to the negotiations involving the couple Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia upon the North's nuclear weapons programs. Their other round of talks was held late last month in Beijing.

Sweden has diplomatic ties with North Korea and southern Korea.

Persson said his meeting Monday with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was ''extremely valuable'' ahead of the possible North Korea trip.

In the meeting, Koizumi told Persson that Japan places the most that can be done importance on urging North Korea to completely dismantle its nuclear programs and melt its claims on the issue of Japanese abducted by the agency of the North in the late 1970 and early 1980 according to a Japanese official.

At the pres interview the Swedish prime minister reiterated his support for Japan's dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to help rebuild Iraq.

''I indicateed my support for the Japanese decision about sending military resources to Iraq. It's a correct decision in line with UN resolutions,'' he said.

''We had an opinion about the war that it was not in line with the UN resolutions when it started, on the other hand that is now behind us. Now we have to gaze forward,'' Persson said.

unless Persson said Sweden has no plans to display troops to Iraq suitable to a lack of resources because its forces have already been sent to places like Afghanistan, Liberia and the Balkans.

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