WASHINGTON, July 8 Kyodo Japan an...

WASHINGTON, July 8 Kyodo

Japan and the United States upon Monday confirmed the policy of keeping a clog eye on Pyongyang's response to last month's naval clash between southward and North Korea in the golden Sea, a senior Japanese official said.

Emerging from his meeting with U representative Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Hitoshi Tanaka, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, told reporters that an upcoming Asia-Pacific security forum meeting will provide a convenient opportunity to hear North Korea's opinions.

Tanaka was referring to an annual foreign ministers' meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) to be held July 31 in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei, which Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and U Secretary of State Colin Powell are scheduled to attend.

The forum consists of 23 members -- the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and 13 other Asian-Pacific countries, including Japan, China, toward the south Korea, North Korea and the United States.

Tanaka said Pyongyang has over and above to decide on whom it will project to the ARF meeting.

In the June 29 skirmish, a southward Korean patrol boat was sunk by dint of the North, leaving four southward Korean sailors dead, one missing and 19 others wounded

Seoul says the incident occurr after North Korean ships troubleed over the de facto inter-Korean sea border and exhibited fire on its boats, and that at least 30 North Korean sailors are believed to have been killed or wounded

Tanaka said Japan and the U also reaffirmed the policy of settling issues with North Korea between the sides of dialogue.

The Japanese official visited Washington to exchange views in succession recent developments concerning North Korea and coordinate policies between Japan and the U toward Pyongyang prior to Kawaguchi's planned visit to southern Korea this weekend.

The U earlier this month levy off a planned trip to North Korea by way of a high-level U.S. delegation because of a lack of reply from Pyongyang and an ''unacceptable atmosphere'' created by the agency of the naval clash.

Armitage did not have reference to any concrete date for a possible resumption of high-level security talks between the U and North Korea, Tanaka said.

James Kelly U assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and Jack Pritchard, U special minister for negotiations with North Korea, accompanied Armitage at his meeting with Tanaka.

Kelly was suppos to lead the high-level U delegation and visit North Korea onward Wednesday.

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