Japan, China, ROK Leaders Determined to Solve N. Korea Nuke Issue
By Rie Ishiguro
Cebu, Philippines, Jan. 14 (Jiji Press)–Leaders of Japan, China and South Korea on Sunday expressed the three countries’ determination to resolve the issue of North Korea’s nuclear programs.
In a joint statement adopted at their meeting in this Philippine resort, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun showed concern over Pyongyang’s missile test-firing and nuclear test last year and stressed the need for U.N. member countries to fully implement sanctions on the reclusive country over the nuclear test based on a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted last October.
They also urged Pyongyang to fulfill its pledge to give up all nuclear programs, shown in a joint statement issued after the September 2005 six-party talks among Japan, China, North and South Korea, the United States and Russia.
North Korea should take concrete and effective steps toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, they said.
In their joint statement, Abe, Wen and Roh called for a solution to the issue of North Korea’s past abduction of Japanese and other foreign nationals, citing the need for the country to address issues of “humanitarian concerns of the international community.”
Abe, Wen and Roh agreed that Japan, China and South Korea will start negotiations at an early date this year for concluding an investment accord among them.
They also touched on a possibility of mulling a three-way free trade agreement, which is expected to facilitate efforts for regional integration.
The three countries hope to step up preparatory work for the launch of the FTA talks through participation by government officials in ongoing private-sector studies on the issue, according to Japanese government sources with access to the meeting.
Abe, Wen and Roh also confirmed the importance of trilateral cooperation in establishing an East Asian community.
An official of the Japanese Foreign Ministry said that the three countries are likely to conclude the investment pact at an early date because there have already been substantive working-level talks on the matter.
The tripartite meeting preceded an ASEAN Plus Three summit later in the day here among the three and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations members.
No summit talks among Japan, China and South Korea took place when a series of ASEAN-related gatherings, including an ASEAN Plus Three summit, were held in Malaysia in late 2005 because China and South Korea refused to have such talks due to their anger at then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s repeated visits to war- related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.
The frosty relations between Japan and the two neighboring countries have started to thaw since Abe went to China and South Korea last October for his first overseas trips following his inauguration as prime minister in September.END
(c) 2007 Jiji Press English News Service. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.