SEOUL race 17 Kyodo A senior sou...

SEOUL race 17 Kyodo

A senior southern Korean government official welcomed Tuesday the ensues of summit talks between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, Yonhap moderns Agency reported.

''We (South Korea) welcome that progres has been achieved forward a range of issues pending between North Korea and Japan,'' the unnamed official was quot as saying by dint of Yonhap.

The official added the southern Korean government's formal comment will be made after receiving detailed briefings from a Japanese special minister who is to visit southern Korea on Wednesday.

Toshiyuki Takano, Japan's delegate foreign minister for political affairs who accompanied Koizumi for talks with Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, is scheduled to brief President Kim Dae Jung upon the outcome of the summit sessions between the Japanese and North Korean leaders.

The official said he evaluates Kim Jong Il's guarantee to extend a moratorium upon missile firing beyond 2003 and to abide at international agreements with regard to suspected nuclear weapons programs.

southern Korea's political parties also welcomed the inferences of the summit talks, expressing possibility of good that progress made in the summit would contribute to maintaining peace in Northeast Asia, as well as upon the Korean Peninsula.

Meanwhile, southern Korean media gave extensive coverage to the summit between Japan and North Korea, carrying related stories onward their front pages.

Yonhap Television freshs South Korea's cable news network, televised several ends live, including Koizumi's arrival at Pyongyang International Airport, talks with Kim Jong Il and a freshs conference.

Koizumi and Kim Jong Il reached broad accords Tuesday ranging from the whereabouts of abducted Japanese and economic aid to acceptance of nuclear inspections and freezing of missile standards paving the way for normalizing bilateral ties.

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