|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
North Korea: Japan Wants to Preserve U.S. Nuclear Umbrella As next week’s six-nation talks on North Korea near, Japanese officials have asked the United States to maintain its commitment to defend Japan using any necessary force, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, Aug. 21). Tokyo is concerned by the possible consequences of Washington promising not to use nuclear weapons against North Korea. Mitoji Yabunaka, the head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanic Affairs Bureau, made the request last week to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Aug. 22). Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung yesterday asked North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions and he asked Washington to provide Pyongyang with a nonaggression pact. “We can agree on the principle (of resolving the nuclear issue) as part of a package deal and implement parts gradually as and when necessary,” he said. North Korea and the United States are set to meet next week in talks with South Korea, Japan, Russia and China. “The six-way talks must succeed,” Kim said (Sim Sung-tae, Korea Herald, Aug. 22). Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong Il will lead the North Korean delegation to the talks, the Korea Herald reported. Ri Gun, who led the delegation at April talks on the nuclear crisis, will serve as Kim’s deputy (Seo Hyun-jin, Korea Herald, Aug. 22). The 19-member South Korean delegation will be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck (Yonhap News Agency/BBC Monitoring, Aug. 22).
| ||||||||||
Back to top
