Obama to meet Aso over N. Korean denuclearization: White House

By Hwang Doo-hyong

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Barack Obama will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso here next week to discuss ways to denuclearize North Korea and the global economic crisis, the White House said Tuesday.

"The two leaders will consult on effective measures to respond to the global
financial crisis and will discuss North Korea and other issues," spokesman Robert
Gibbs said in a statement. "Japan is a close friend and a key ally of the United
States and the president looks forward to discussing ways in which the two
countries can strengthen cooperation on regional and global challenges."
The announcement comes hours after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a
news conference in Tokyo that she had extended an invitation to Aso, the first of
its kind since Obama took office Jan. 20.
Clinton is currently on a weeklong tour of four Asian nations, including South
Korea, China and Indonesia.
North Korea's denuclearization is among the priorities in her Asian tour as South
Korea, Japan and China are members of six-party talks on ending North Korea's
nuclear ambitions, along with the U.S., North Korea and Russia.
The Obama-Aso summit also comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula
and restlessness in Japan over North Korea's threat to launch a missile with a
range encompassing Japan as well as the continental U.S.
Clinton arrived in Tokyo Monday in the first leg of her Asian tour, and warned
North Korea to scrub any missile launch and to abide by a six-party deal for its
denuclearization. That would allow Washington to normalize ties with Pyongyang,
provide massive economic aid and establish a permanent peace regime on the Korean
Peninsula to replace the armistice that ended the three-year Korean war in 1953,
she said.
Obama placed a call to Aso late last month and "discussed regional issues,
including North Korea, and agreed to work closely through the six-party talks
process," Gibbs said at that time.
The call was made days prior to Obama's calls to Chinese President Hu Jintao and
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
Japan has been wary of a possible policy change by Washington that would place
China at the top of the U.S. foreign policy agenda in Asia in light of Beijing's
growing economic, military and political power. China also wields great influence
on its communist ally North Korea, whose nuclear ambitions have become a major
security concern in Washington.
At the same time, Japan has refused to carry out a portion of its six-party
obligations, including provision of energy aid to North Korea, citing what it
calls North Korea's failure to address abductions of Japanese citizens decades
ago.
North Korea has called for Japan's ouster from the talks. North Korea returned
five of 13 Japanese citizens it kidnapped in the 1970s and 80s for the training
of North Korean agents in Japanese language and culture, and said the rest are
dead. Japan insists more Japanese abductees are alive.
Clinton told a joint news conference with Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi
Nakasone in Tokyo earlier in the day that "I know the abductee issue is of great
concern here in Japan, and I will be meeting with families later today to express
my personal sympathy and our concern about what happened to those who were
abducted."
"The abductee issue is part of the Six-Party Talks, and we believe it should be,
because it is more likely to yield to progress as part of a comprehensive
engagement with North Korea," she said. "And I would underscore that the North
Koreans should in no way be mistaken."
The latest round of the six-party talks stalled again in December as the North
balked at a verification regime on its nuclear facilities, insisting it will
agree to the verification protocol later.