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The chief nuclear negotiators from the two Koreas will meet on the sidelines of a regional security meeting in Tokyo attended by all delegation heads in stalled six-party talks on the North¡¯s nuclear program.
A government official on Friday said the South Korean chief delegate to the six-party talks, Chun Young-woo, will meet with his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-gwan during the privately organized Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue (NEACD) that starts in the Japanese capital on Sunday. Chun will urge Kim to meet with U.S. chief negotiator Christopher Hill to discuss resumption of the stalled six-way talks.
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North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan smiles on arrival at Tokyo¡¯s Narita International Airport on Friday./AP
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Kim on Friday said he will ¡°not avoid¡± a meeting with the U.S. during the NEACD if it asks for one.
The vice foreign minister made the remark on arrival at Tokyo¡¯s Narita International Airport. Asked why his delegation is visiting Tokyo, he said, ¡°We are one of the founding members of this meeting, taking part in the very first NEACD conference.¡± He said the purpose of the conference was to find ways ¡°as an alternative diplomatic tool to contribute to peace in Northeast Asia.¡± Kim said he was attending in his capacity as an advisor to the Institute for Disarmament and Peace (IDP) in North Korea. Turning to the nuclear talks, he added ¡°the U.S. knows very well¡± what needs to be done to resume them.
Asked if the seminar could lead to resumption of the talks that have been stalled since November, Kim said it ¡°does not have to do with the six-party talks, but we will discuss what to do to resume them." Pyongyang is boycotting the negotiations in protest at financial sanctions from Washington over the North¡¯s alleged counterfeiting activities.
Sponsored by the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, the NEACD is billed as a regular forum on security issues between nongovernmental organizations; it just so happens that the chief negotiators from nations in the six-party talks are attending it.
Japan¡¯s six-party delegation head Kenichiro Sasae, China's Wu Dawei and Russia's Alexander Alexeyev will also be at the forum.
Meanwhile, South Korea on Friday appointed its chief negotiator Chun Young-woo head of the Foreign Ministry¡¯s newly launched Office of Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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