Kan, Lee agree to work closely following N. Korean attack+

TOKYO, Nov. 24 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Naoto Kan and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak agreed
Wednesday that the two countries, along with the United States, will work
closely together following North Korea's deadly artillery attack on a South
Korean island, a Japanese official said.
Kan told Lee over the phone that Japan backs South Korea and will ask China,
the North's major ally, to play an active role in preventing Pyongyang from
taking any more provocative actions, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro
Fukuyama told reporters.
The government decided that Japan will fully support South Korea if it raises
the North's bombardment at the U.N. Security Council, officials said.
In the morning, the government set up a task force on the bombardment Tuesday
of Yeonpyeong Island near the two Koreas' disputed western border, which was
one of the heaviest attacks against South Korea since the Korean War ended in
1953.
During the task force's first meeting, Kan called the attack, which killed at
least two South Korean soldiers and two civilians, ''an intolerable act of
barbarism.''
He told his Cabinet that Japan will strengthen its efforts with the
international community to work toward peace and stability in East Asia. But he
said China needs to do more to restrain North Korea as Beijing has strong
influence over Pyongyang.
The bilateral talks took place after Lee discussed the latest clash over the
phone with U.S. President Barack Obama and the leaders of Japan and South Korea
confirmed that the three countries will enhance cooperation on security issues,
Fukuyama said.
Lee expressed gratitude to Kan for Japan's immediate denunciation of the
North's shelling and backing South Korea's position, according to Fukuyama.
Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara told a press conference he held telephone talks
with his South Korean counterpart Kim Sung Hwan and met with Chinese Ambassador
to Japan Cheng Yonghua to discuss how to respond to the North's attack.
Maehara said he told the ambassador that China ''has a big role to play'' as
chair of the six-party talks on denuclearizing North Korea and a major provider
of financial assistance to the impoverished country.
Maehara quoted Cheng as saying that China does not want to see a further
deterioration in the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
But the envoy did not condemn the North and indicated China's ''neutral
stance'' on the incident, the minister said.
Maehara said he believes the North's shelling represents the country's
''crooked desire'' to get across its demands by reopening the six-way dialogue,
which has been deadlocked since December 2008, or holding direct talks with the
United States, but the international community ''can in no way accept'' such a
stance.
Maehara said the chances of holding the dialogue on denuclearizing North Korea
involving the two Koreas, Japan, China, the United States and Russia have now
become slim. He urged the North to stop ''all barbaric acts in violation of
international law.''
Maehara also condemned the North for the death of the two civilians, saying it
was ''unacceptable'' that they had been killed in an ''indiscriminate attack.''

North Korea has accused the South Korean military of initiating the exchange of
fire by shooting toward its side during a regular military drill.
==Kyodo