Six-way Talks over North Korea Issue to Be Held in Beijing

Six-way Talks over North Korea Issue to Be Held in Beijing. May. 31, 2004 22:17. by Won-Jae Park parkwj@donga.com.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported on May 31 that the third six-way talks for resolving the North Korean nuclear weapons issue will be held in Beijing, China at the end of June, quoting a source from the Japanese government.

It conveyed that Korea, U.S., and Japan will urge again for North Korea to freeze its nuclear programs and also talk about North Korea’s demands in exchange for its nuclear freeze, such as energy aid.

It was reported that the participating countries of the six-way talks will have the second working-level meeting in the middle of June in Beijing and discuss the topics for the talks and how to proceed with them.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed his intention to solve the nuclear and missile issues through the six-way talks to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il when he visited North Korea on May 22.

Kim responded that North Korea and the U.S. will settle the nuclear and missile issues through bilateral talks, but he said that it did not mean that he would not participate in the six-way talks.