Okada, U.S. envoy agree to closely cooperate to resume 6-party talks

TOKYO, Feb. 26 Kyodo -
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and U.S. special envoy to North Korea
Stephen Bosworth agreed Friday to closely cooperate to resume the stalled
six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program, but the prospects for a
resumption anytime soon remain unclear.
Bosworth, who arrived in Tokyo earlier in the day after visiting China and
South Korea, also told Japanese officials that China has unofficially presented
to him a plan aimed at achieving a breakthrough in the situation, according to
a diplomatic source.
The content of the plan has not been disclosed. Bosworth explained to the
Japanese officials how the United States views the plan, which was presented by
Wu Dawei, China's special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs, during
their talks in Beijing on Wednesday.
Okada told Bosworth that he is ''glad'' to affirm that Japan and the United
States share ''the same stance'' on the issue and that he would like to
strengthen cooperation between Japan, the United States and South Korea,
according to the source.
The ministry's press release issued after Bosworth held talks with Okada and
Akitaka Saiki, Japan's chief delegate to the six-party talks, said that they
will ''continue to closely cooperate'' with each other as well as South Korea
toward the early resumption of the six-party talks and North Korea's
denuclearization.
But a Japanese foreign ministry source indicated that the prospects for a
resumption of the talks remain unclear, saying, ''There are a lot of things we
have to overcome in the process.''
The U.S. special representative for North Korea policy also said before leaving
South Korea earlier in the day that the United States and South Korea are
convinced that the six-party talks ''will eventually resume'' but it is not
possible to speculate when.
North Korea has proposed talks with the United States on a peace treaty to
formally end the 1950-1953 Korean War and also said it will not rejoin the
six-party talks in the face of U.N. sanctions.
Meanwhile, Japan, the United States and South Korea are urging the North to
return to the talks unconditionally and have implemented U.N. Security Council
resolutions aimed at punishing the country.
Okada said at a press conference prior to his talks with Bosworth, ''At this
moment, I have no intention of changing Japan's current policy.''
North Korea last April declared it was withdrawing from the talks, also
involving South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, in protest
at the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of what Pyongyang claimed was a
rocket launch the same month but which was widely seen as a long-range missile
test.
North Korea added to the tension by conducting a second nuclear test in May,
leading to increased U.N. sanctions on the country.
Bosworth will stay in Japan until Saturday, according to the Japanese Foreign
Ministry.
Japan is the last stop on Bosworth's three-nation Asian tour aimed at exploring
ways to resume the talks.
==Kyodo