N. Korea nuclear talks likely as planned (Reuters) Updated: 2005-08-25 07:14
TOKYO - Six-party talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear
weapons programs are likely to resume next week as planned, China's top envoy to
the discussions said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
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Lee Jong-seok (L), deputy head of South Korea's National Security
Council, shakes hands with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi
during a meeting, on policy coordination on the North Korean nuclear
issue, at Tokyo's Iikura Guest House August 24, 2005.
[Reuters] | In Seoul, a senior South Korean
official said he was optimistic about the prospects for a deal by which the
North would abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions because Pyongyang has been
presented with Washington's best-ever offer.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, visiting Japan for talks with
Japanese officials, told reporters the starting date would be decided after
consultations with the other parties.
"As planned," Wu said when asked about the timing of the upcoming talks,
following a meeting with Kenichiro Sasae, Japan's chief negotiator to the forum
which includes the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia.
Following a gap of more than a year, the six countries met in Beijing for
nearly two weeks before breaking off earlier this month with a decision to
reconvene during the week of August 29.
There has been a flurry of diplomatic activity in the interim, including
contacts between U.S. and North Korean officials.
Lee Jong-Seok, deputy head of South Korea's National Security Council, was
also in Tokyo and held talks with Japanese officials, including Sasae, later on
Wednesday.
The two sides agreed to make efforts to ensure that all six parties could
agree this time on a joint statement, something they failed to do in early
August.
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