ID :
84067
Sun, 10/11/2009 - 12:46
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/84067
The shortlink copeid
Leaders of S. Korea, Japan, China to hold talks
by Byun Duk-kun
BEIJING, Oct. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was set to hold talks with leaders of Japan and China here Saturday in a three-way summit that will focus on ways to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table on its denuclearization and other regional issues.
The meeting comes only days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao that his country may rejoin the six-nation denuclearization
talks, depending on the outcome of its bilateral negotiations with the United
States.
"A mood is being formed in the international community that there is no other way
for North Korea but to come back to the negotiating table," Lee said Friday in a
joint press conference after his bilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister
Yukio Hatoyama in Seoul.
"There might be an issue of when, but I am convinced (the North) will return to
the six-party negotiations through U.S.-North Korea talks," he added.
Following U.N. condemnation of its long-range rocket launch, North Korea said in
April it will never again attend the denuclearization talks that also involve
South Korea, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia. The U.N. Security Council imposed
additional sanctions on the communist nation after the North conducted its second
atomic test in May.
To prevent any additional nuclear tests, the South Korean president has proposed
reaching a "grand bargain" with the North that will seek to completely and
irreversibly dismantle North Korea's key nuclear capabilities in a single step,
instead of in phases.
The Japanese prime minister welcomed the proposal, calling it a very "accurate"
or correct way to denuclearize North Korea.
"We must find out North Korea's true intentions by pursuing a complete and
comprehensive solution to North Korea's nuclear, as well as its ballistic missile
programs," he said in a joint press conference in Seoul, adding the countries
must fully implement their economic sanctions on the North until Pyongyang shows
sincere willingness to give up its nuclear ambitions.
The proposal will further be discussed in detail at the trilateral summit and a
bilateral meeting between Lee and the Chinese premier, slated to be held later
Saturday, according to South Korean officials accompanying the president.
Other agendas for the three-way talks included regional cooperation in fighting
the global economic crisis and forming a joint community in Northeast Asia.
Lee was also expected to seek support for the country's hosting of the G-20
economic summit in November 2010, the first meeting of the forum to be held in
Asia since it was launched in late 2008 in the face of the unfolding economic
crisis. The economic conference was designated as the premier forum for
international economic cooperation at a Pittsburgh meeting held last month.
The South Korean president, along with the Japanese head of state, was also set
to hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao before returning home later
Saturday.
BEIJING, Oct. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was set to hold talks with leaders of Japan and China here Saturday in a three-way summit that will focus on ways to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table on its denuclearization and other regional issues.
The meeting comes only days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao that his country may rejoin the six-nation denuclearization
talks, depending on the outcome of its bilateral negotiations with the United
States.
"A mood is being formed in the international community that there is no other way
for North Korea but to come back to the negotiating table," Lee said Friday in a
joint press conference after his bilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister
Yukio Hatoyama in Seoul.
"There might be an issue of when, but I am convinced (the North) will return to
the six-party negotiations through U.S.-North Korea talks," he added.
Following U.N. condemnation of its long-range rocket launch, North Korea said in
April it will never again attend the denuclearization talks that also involve
South Korea, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia. The U.N. Security Council imposed
additional sanctions on the communist nation after the North conducted its second
atomic test in May.
To prevent any additional nuclear tests, the South Korean president has proposed
reaching a "grand bargain" with the North that will seek to completely and
irreversibly dismantle North Korea's key nuclear capabilities in a single step,
instead of in phases.
The Japanese prime minister welcomed the proposal, calling it a very "accurate"
or correct way to denuclearize North Korea.
"We must find out North Korea's true intentions by pursuing a complete and
comprehensive solution to North Korea's nuclear, as well as its ballistic missile
programs," he said in a joint press conference in Seoul, adding the countries
must fully implement their economic sanctions on the North until Pyongyang shows
sincere willingness to give up its nuclear ambitions.
The proposal will further be discussed in detail at the trilateral summit and a
bilateral meeting between Lee and the Chinese premier, slated to be held later
Saturday, according to South Korean officials accompanying the president.
Other agendas for the three-way talks included regional cooperation in fighting
the global economic crisis and forming a joint community in Northeast Asia.
Lee was also expected to seek support for the country's hosting of the G-20
economic summit in November 2010, the first meeting of the forum to be held in
Asia since it was launched in late 2008 in the face of the unfolding economic
crisis. The economic conference was designated as the premier forum for
international economic cooperation at a Pittsburgh meeting held last month.
The South Korean president, along with the Japanese head of state, was also set
to hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao before returning home later
Saturday.
