No bilateral talks with N. Korea without nuclear solution: Japanese FM

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SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Yonhap) -- There will be no bilateral talks between Japan and
North Korea unless the secretive country's nuclear issue is resolved, Japan's top
diplomat said Friday.
"North Korea conducted nuclear and missile tests in defiance of the resolution at
the six-party talks," said Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada in his first interview
with South Korean journalists who visited Tokyo earlier in the day. "Under the
current circumstances, there will be no bilateral talks between Japan and North
Korea."
The international talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear programs
involve six countries -- the two Koreas, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia. The
talks, last held in December, have been in a drawn-out stalemate due to
Pyongyang's refusal to return to the multilateral forum, seeking one-on-one talks
with Washington.
Okada's comments came after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was reported to have
said he is willing to resolve an ongoing nuclear standoff with the international
community through "bilateral or multilateral dialogue." The U.S. announced last
week it will soon undertake bilateral negotiations with North Korea to persuade
it to return to the talks.
"The United States weighs the six-party talks," Okada continued. "The bilateral
talks between the U.S. and North Korea can be somewhat fruitful only for the
purpose of pushing forward the six-party talks."
He stressed that the five other countries in the talks "need to strengthen
cooperation and exert pressure on each other" in order to bring the North back to
the table.
The Japanese foreign minister also brought up the abduction issue, saying that
"North Korea should carry out a renewed investigation into the Japanese abduction
cases, as it had earlier agreed."
Tokyo has urged Pyongyang to come clean on its abduction of Japanese nationals in
the late 1970s and early 80s, while the North says the issue was settled after it
returned several surviving abductees.
In line with a new foreign policy envisioned by Yukio Hatoyama who was elected
prime minister on Wednesday, the Japanese foreign minister said a relationship
between Japan and South Korea should be solid and forward-moving.
"Japan has addressed the (historical) issues and has made some agreement with
South Korea in the past, including the Murayama Statement," he said. "However,
some Japanese high-ranking officials and prime ministers cast a dark shadow on
the Japan-South Korea relations, making comments against those agreements."
Newly elected Hatoyama has been publicly saying that if he takes power, he will
not visit the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors convicted World War II criminals.
South Koreans view the shrine visits by Japanese leaders as proof that Tokyo is
not remorseful about its past atrocities in spite of its apology in 1995 by then
Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, commonly referred to as the Murayama Statement.
Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula from 1910-1945, a dark period marked by
wartime atrocities including forced labor and sexual slavery. Seoul and Tokyo
normalized ties in 1965.
"Next year will be the year when we will put in order what had happened in the
past 100 years. We need to work on building a new 100 years of Japan-South Korea
relations," Okada said.
The Japanese government has yet to respond to South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak's invitation to Japanese Emperor Akihito, the foreign minister said.
"We have not any decision as of yet," he said. "It should be carefully
considered, as the emperor's visit to South Korea should be politically neutral."
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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