Mon June 9, 2003 08:05 AM ET
TOKYO (Reuters) - Five-country talks on North Korea and its nuclear ambitions could well take place within a month or in two at the latest, Japanese media quoted U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage as saying Monday. Armitage was quoted by Kyodo news agency as saying that the chance of such talks, which would include Japan, South Korea, the United States, China and North Korea, had become more likely because Pyongyang's opposition to that format appeared to be weakening steadily.
He added that the United States, South Korea and Japan would strongly call for multilateral talks at a trilateral meeting in Hawaii later this week and that China would convey this stance to North Korea.
"North Korea won't able to ignore this," Armitage was quoted by Kyodo as saying.
He justified the time frame by saying past experience had shown that this was frequently the amount of time it would take for diplomatic pressure to have an effect on North Korea, adding that he felt the five-way talks were likely to take place by August.
"A month, at the longest, two," he was quoted as saying.
China, North Korea and the United States held three-way talks in Beijing in April to try to resolve the confrontation over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Tokyo and Seoul, which had hoped to take part, were left out because of Pyongyang's opposition.
The talks in Beijing ended after U.S. officials said North Korea disclosed it had atomic bombs and Pyongyang said it presented a plan to resolve the dispute but was ignored.
Despite the apparent deadlock, though, the three countries agreed the discussions were a "good beginning" to ending the crisis that had been festering for months.
Mon June 9, 2003 08:40 AM ET
TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States welcomes Japan's move to push for a controversial law that will allow Tokyo to send troops to help in the reconstruction of Iraq, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Monday. "I feel quite strongly about it," Armitage told NHK national television. "I'm thrilled that the government representing the people is debating these ideas."
His remarks came as talks began between coalition leaders and officials in Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration on the new law, which the government hopes that parliament would pass before the current session ends later this month.