ID :
24651
Wed, 10/15/2008 - 17:42
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/24651
The shortlink copeid
High-level officials meet over N. Korea, other issues: sources
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- High ranking officials of South Korea, the United States and Japan gathered here Tuesday to discuss North Korea's nuclear ambitions and a range of other regional and international issues, officials and diplomatic sources said.
The three-way meeting is basically a revival of the Trilateral Coordination and
Oversight Group (TCOG) meetings launched in late 1990s to coordinate their North
Korea policies that were disrupted at the advent of South Korea's liberal Roh
Moo-hyun government in 2003.
Roh disliked the three-way format, fearing it might provoke North Korea.
Unlike the Roh administration, which had sought closer ties with North Korea at
the cost of a decades long alliance with the U.S., the pro-U.S. Lee Myung-bak
government recently proposed the revival of the three-way talks, informed sources
said.
The TCOG dealt with mostly North Korea, but the new three-way version will focus
on "bolstering cooperation among the three nations on Northeast Asia and major
international issues beyond the TCOG's agenda," Moon Tae-young, spokesman for
South Korea's Foreign Ministry said recently.
South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-joon represented Seoul in the
trilateral meeting.
Lee's U.S. and Japanese counterparts were Under Secretary of State for Political
Affairs William J. Burns and Deputy Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae,
respectively.
Tuesday's meeting follows a major breakthrough made over the past weekend in the
multilateral talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
The U.S. Saturday took the North from a terrorism blacklist citing Pyongyang's
agreement on a verification regime on its nuclear facilities, and the North
responded by beginning to disable its nuclear facilities again.
They had "in-depth discussions on a range of major international issues,
including the situation in Northeast Asia and the promotion of regional
cooperation," the U.S. State Department said in a statement, adding they had
agreed to "hold such meetings on a regular basis and to consult one another about
the timing and venue for the next meeting through diplomatic channels."
WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- High ranking officials of South Korea, the United States and Japan gathered here Tuesday to discuss North Korea's nuclear ambitions and a range of other regional and international issues, officials and diplomatic sources said.
The three-way meeting is basically a revival of the Trilateral Coordination and
Oversight Group (TCOG) meetings launched in late 1990s to coordinate their North
Korea policies that were disrupted at the advent of South Korea's liberal Roh
Moo-hyun government in 2003.
Roh disliked the three-way format, fearing it might provoke North Korea.
Unlike the Roh administration, which had sought closer ties with North Korea at
the cost of a decades long alliance with the U.S., the pro-U.S. Lee Myung-bak
government recently proposed the revival of the three-way talks, informed sources
said.
The TCOG dealt with mostly North Korea, but the new three-way version will focus
on "bolstering cooperation among the three nations on Northeast Asia and major
international issues beyond the TCOG's agenda," Moon Tae-young, spokesman for
South Korea's Foreign Ministry said recently.
South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-joon represented Seoul in the
trilateral meeting.
Lee's U.S. and Japanese counterparts were Under Secretary of State for Political
Affairs William J. Burns and Deputy Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae,
respectively.
Tuesday's meeting follows a major breakthrough made over the past weekend in the
multilateral talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
The U.S. Saturday took the North from a terrorism blacklist citing Pyongyang's
agreement on a verification regime on its nuclear facilities, and the North
responded by beginning to disable its nuclear facilities again.
They had "in-depth discussions on a range of major international issues,
including the situation in Northeast Asia and the promotion of regional
cooperation," the U.S. State Department said in a statement, adding they had
agreed to "hold such meetings on a regular basis and to consult one another about
the timing and venue for the next meeting through diplomatic channels."
