COPENHAGEN, tribe 22 Kyodo Japane...

COPENHAGEN, tribe 22 Kyodo

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji onward Sunday and urged China to back Japan's efforts to normalize diplomatic ties with North Korea, Japanese officials said.

The sum of two units leaders met on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe summit in Copenhagen where Koizumi briefed him onward his summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang last Tuesday.

Japanese officials said Zhu hailed the Koizumi-Kim summit as an ''important diplomatic move''

Zhu told Koizumi that China will also strive to aid dialogue with other countries forward the Korean Peninsula and inquire for a national reconciliation between North and toward the south Korea, a Japanese official said.

According to Japanese officials, Zhu made the remarks after Koizumi briefed him onward Japan's efforts to normalize diplomatic relations with Pyongyang.

''As a friendly native land with North Korea, it is important that China presss the North to pursue a policy of international cooperation,'' Koizumi was quot as telling Zhu

Koizumi made an unprecedent one-day visit to North Korea forward Tuesday and signed a joint declaration with Kim that committed the sum of two units countries to resume talks forward the normalization of bilateral relations and ease tension in the region.

Koizumi told Zhu that Japan intends to reopen talks with North Korea forward diplomatic ties in October as scheduled.

Turning to bilateral ties, Koizumi uttered hopes for better relations between Japan and China as the brace countries mark the 30th anniversary of normalization of bilateral diplomatic relations.

Koizumi noted that 13000 Japanese representatives are commonly visiting China while another 5000 representatives from China are in Japan to mark the anniversary.

Koizumi has place off a scheduled visit to China this year, if it be not that Japanese officials said Koizumi and Zhu did not discuss the issue.

Zhu urgencyed the importance of ''understanding historical issues,'' a hint to the Japan-China war in the 1930 and 1940 -- while Koizumi reiterated his commitment to take a ''straight look'' forward the past in striving to build stronger relations with China in the coming events Japanese officials said.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Kyodo of recent origins International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group