Japanese PM Abe Says Six-Party Talks Participants Not to Give Up on Nuclear Issue

Text of report in English by Japanese news agency Kyodo

Tokyo, Feb. 12 Kyodo – Participants in the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue will not give up urging Pyongyang to take concrete steps toward abandoning its nuclear programs, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday.

“We will keep cooperating and continue asking for response until the end so that North Korea would come forward and take concrete steps toward abandoning its nuclear program,” Abe told reporters in Tokyo.

“North Korea is the one that will be in trouble the most if the talks fail. That is what North Korea has to understand,” he added.

The talks between the six countries – North Korea, South Korea, China, the United States, Japan and Russia – resumed last Thursday in Beijing. They have entered the fifth day, with envoys saying a breakthrough hinges on North Korea’s response to proposals presented by other nations.

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