YONHAP NEWS

(LEAD) No bilateral talks with N. Korea without nuclear solution: Japanese FM

SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Yonhap) -- There will be no bilateral talks between Japan and North Korea unless the secretive country's nuclear issue is resolved, Japan's top diplomat said Friday.

   "North Korea conducted nuclear and missile tests in defiance of the resolution at the six-party talks," said Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada in his first interview with South Korean journalists who visited Tokyo earlier in the day. "Under the current circumstances, there will be no bilateral talks between Japan and North Korea."

   The international talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear programs involve six countries -- the two Koreas, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia. The talks, last held in December, have been in a drawn-out stalemate due to Pyongyang's refusal to return to the multilateral forum, seeking one-on-one talks with Washington.

   Okada's comments came after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was reported to have said he is willing to resolve an ongoing nuclear standoff with the international community through "bilateral or multilateral dialogue." The U.S. announced last week it will soon undertake bilateral negotiations with North Korea to persuade it to return to the talks.

   "The United States weighs the six-party talks," Okada continued. "The bilateral talks between the U.S. and North Korea can be somewhat fruitful only for the purpose of pushing forward the six-party talks."

   He stressed that the five other countries in the talks "need to strengthen cooperation and exert pressure on each other" in order to bring the North back to the table.

   The Japanese foreign minister also brought up the abduction issue, saying that "North Korea should carry out a renewed investigation into the Japanese abduction cases, as it had earlier agreed."

   Tokyo has urged Pyongyang to come clean on its abduction of Japanese nationals in the late 1970s and early 80s, while the North says the issue was settled after it returned several surviving abductees.

   In line with a new foreign policy envisioned by Yukio Hatoyama who was elected prime minister on Wednesday, the Japanese foreign minister said a relationship between Japan and South Korea should be solid and forward-moving.

   "Japan has addressed the (historical) issues and has made some agreement with South Korea in the past, including the Murayama Statement," he said. "However, some Japanese high-ranking officials and prime ministers cast a dark shadow on the Japan-South Korea relations, making comments against those agreements."

   Newly elected Hatoyama has been publicly saying that if he takes power, he will not visit the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors convicted World War II criminals. South Koreans view the shrine visits by Japanese leaders as proof that Tokyo is not remorseful about its past atrocities in spite of its apology in 1995 by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, commonly referred to as the Murayama Statement.

   Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula from 1910-1945, a dark period marked by wartime atrocities including forced labor and sexual slavery. Seoul and Tokyo normalized ties in 1965.

   "Next year will be the year when we will put in order what had happened in the past 100 years. We need to work on building a new 100 years of Japan-South Korea relations," Okada said.

   The Japanese government has yet to respond to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's invitation to Japanese Emperor Akihito, the foreign minister said.

   "We have not any decision as of yet," he said. "It should be carefully considered, as the emperor's visit to South Korea should be politically neutral."

   ygkim@yna.co.kr
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