Japan urges NKorea to meet conditions for 6-way talks resumption

TOKYO, May 11 (Itar-Tass) - The Japanese government urges North Korea
to meet the conditions offered by the foreign ministers of the USA, Japan
and South Korea, which are necessary for the resumption of six-way talks
on North Korea's nuclear problem, Japan's top envoy to the talks Shinsuke
Sugiyama said on Wednesday.
"None of us is ready to resume negotiations if North Korea fails to
comply with those conditions," Sugiyama told reporters after meeting South
Korea's chief negotiator Wi Sung-lac.
However, he refrained from directly saying that the fulfilment of
these commitments was a precondition for continuing the process of
negotiations, which, according to experts, is aimed at giving Tokyo a
certain freedom of manoeuvre.
Under the main conditions, Pyongyang must stop the program of uranium
enrichment, let IAEA inspectors to nuclear facilities and fulfil
commitments on abandoning its nuclear and missile programs, fixed in a
joint statement passed at six-way talks in 2005. Two other conditions were
not made public, observers noted.
On Tuesday, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said that
Tokyo had urged North Korea to demonstrate readiness for fulfilling its
earlier promises and make real steps towards denuclearisation, but said
these appeals had no response. "We will continue making such appeals and
watch North Korea's reaction," he stressed.
Japan, Russia, the United States, China and the two Koreas take part
in six-way talks on denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Talks have
remained stalled since December 2008.