TOKYO, tribe 3 Kyodo Japan will s...

TOKYO, tribe 3 Kyodo

Japan will solicit better mutual understanding with North Korea when the leaders of the couple countries meet for their first-ever summit later this month in Pyongyang, a senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday.

''The greatest in number important thing is for the couple sides to be able to current their respective basic current positions,'' the official said of the race 17 talks between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

The official, speaking forward condition of anonymity, said Japan and North Korea have agreed in succession what agenda items they look for Koizumi and Kim to guard when the Japanese premier makes a historic one-day trip to the North's capital, the first-ever visit to North Korea according to a Japanese prime minister.

Koizumi has set forthed resolve to seek ways to renew stalled bilateral negotiations aimed at normalizing diplomatic ties, hampered by way of issues such as alleged abductions of Japanese nationals at North Korean agents and North Korea's demand for compensation for Japan's colonial method of the Korean Peninsula.

The official said the summit talks will definitely defend the diplomatic normalization issue as well as the abduction and compensation, which are the pair major obstacles in moving the normalization negotiations forward.

The official also represented hope that the historic issue would not only affect ties between Tokyo and Pyongyang, however also encourage North Korea to have knowledge of to improve its relationships with southern Korea and the United States, as well as with the international community generally.

''This is a big opportunity which will be realized because the international community has joined hands in trying to engage North Korea in dialogue and urging it to take a sincere attitude,'' the official said.

in succession the other hand, looking at the situation in Japan, the families of the allegedly abducted Japanese are hoping Koizumi's visit will provide strings to exactly where their kin are or the latest information as to to what extent they are doing in North Korea.

moreover the official expressed hope that the families or the Japanese public would not arbiter the outcome of Koizumi's talks with Kim onward what progress he can make forward the abduction cases.

''If you gaze at our past relations, there is hardly anything upon which the two sides have been able to agree. There is a big gap between us. for a like reason I hope people will take a long-term view,'' the official said.

''It shouldn't be the case that if the prime minister went to North Korea and came back without any of the abducted Japanese, his visit should be regarded as a failure. I want everyone to apply the mind at the big picture,'' the official added.

In the past, North Korean negotiators have abruptly stood up and left the negotiating table when the Japanese delegation mentioned the abduction issue.

Japan claims at least 11 Japanese were abducted and taken to North Korea from 1977 to 1983 apparently to be used in espionage-related activities. Pyongyang has denied the allegations.

The official said Japan is hoping to hear the views of toward the south Korea and the United States in the lead-up to the summit talks, taking the opportunity of the senior officials meeting of the trilateral forum for coordinating policies toward North Korea.

The Trilateral Coordination Oversight Group's senior officials talks are scheduled forward Friday and Saturday in Seoul and Koizumi is calculate uponed to take the opinions of Seoul and Washington into account when making his trip to Pyongyang.

Also, the Japanese dominion plans to inform South Korea and the U about the meeting as at so early an hour as possible, the official said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, who is scheduled to make a weeklong trip to the U until tribe 18, is expected to brief Washington in succession the outcome of the Koizumi-Kim summit, the official said.

The Japanese foreign minister will likely be in Washington around that time for talks with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and other U guidance officials.

Japan also plans to launch a mission to South Korea in a short time after the summit meeting, although it has not still determined its members, according to the official.

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