S. Korean FM due in Japan for regional forum, talks on N. Korea

S Korean FM-Japan visit


By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan was set to
arrive in Tokyo later Friday on a three-day visit for a series of bilateral talks
with his Asian and Latin American counterparts and a cooperative forum.

The fourth Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation will be held Saturday,
involving 33 countries from the two regions, according to a Seoul foreign
ministry spokesman.
"We believe the forum will be an opportunity to further strengthen the
cooperative relations between South Korea and Latin America in various sectors,"
the spokesman, Kim Young-sun, told reporters.
The South Korean minister will hold bilateral talks with Japanese Foreign
Minister Katsuya Okada early on Saturday to discuss various bilateral and
international issues, including their countries' joint efforts to resume
six-nation talks on ending North Korea's nuclear program.
In April, North Korea quit the nuclear talks that also involve the United States,
China and Russia, but told China's visiting Premier Wen Jiabao late last year
that it may return to the negotiation table, depending on the outcome of its
bilateral talks with the United States.
North Korea has yet to return to the nuclear talks despite a visit by a special
U.S. envoy for North Korea policy, Stephen Bosworth, to Pyongyang last month -- a
trip aimed at bringing the communist nation back to the six-way dialogue.
Pyongyang on Monday demanded the start of separate talks to formally end the
1950-53 Korean War before its return to the nuclear negotiations. Both Seoul and
Washington have rejected the demand, saying such talks will only be possible
after North Korea returns to the six-party negotiations and make significant
progress toward denuclearization.
Yu will likely seek China's support for Seoul's position on the issue when he
meets his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, on Sunday, ministry officials said.
A close ally of North Korea, China currently hosts the six-way talks on ridding
North Korea of its nuclear programs and also is a signatory to the 1953 Korean
armistice.
The South Korean minister is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with his
counterpart from Panama, according to the Seoul ministry. He will return home
Sunday.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)

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