Japan will work closely with the relevant parties to score
substantial progress in the six-party talks, said a Japanese
official at a news briefing in Beijing Monday
evening.??
The official, who declined to disclose his name, briefed the
reporters on the first meeting of the Japanese and US delegations
after their arrival in Beijing.
According to the official, head of Japanese delegation Sasae
Kenichiro and his US counterpart Christopher Hill held an hour-long
meeting Monday morning, in which the two sides promised close
cooperation during the talks to achieve positive results.
The official said that Japan is willing to play a constructive
role and work closely with the concerned parties, especially the US
and South Korea.
He reiterated that Japan will raise the "abduction issue" again
during the talks, noting that Japan is willing to have bilateral
talks with North Korea, whereas the "abduction issue" concerns the
trust between the two nations.
However, North Korea said on July 23 in a commentary of the
official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that it would not deal
with Japan even in the six-party talks due to Japan's unjust stance
over the talks and the "abduction issue."
North Korea confessed in 2002 that its agents had kidnapped 13
Japanese citizens in the 1970s and the 1980s to use them as
language instructors for spies.
(Xinhua News Agency July 26, 2005)