US Secretary of State Colin Powell will visit Japan, China and
South Korea beginning from next week for talks on the nuclear issue
of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the US State
Department said Saturday.
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Powell will hold discussions with senior officials in the three
countries "on bilateral matters, regional security and stability,
and issues such as the global war on terrorism, Iraq, North Korea
and the six-party talks," the State Department said in a
statement.
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Powell is to leave Washington for the three-nation tour on Friday,
the statement said.
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The DPRK nuclear issue and the six-party talks are expected to be
top priorities of Powell's three-nation tour as the six-party talks
have been stalled since September.
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The United States, China, Japan and South Korea, along with Russia
and the DPRK, are involved in the six-party talks aiming at
realizing the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
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The United States has said that it is ready to go to the six-party
talks "at an early date" despite the fact that the scheduled fourth
round of six-party talks failed to take place in September.
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The United States has also promised that it is still committed to
the six-party process.
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Three rounds of the six-party talks, hosted by China, have been
held to try to end the nuclear confrontation between the DPRK and
the United States.
(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2004)