Japan, China, S. Korea call for N. Korea's swift return to nuke talks+

SHANGHAI, Sept. 28 Kyodo -
The foreign ministers of Japan, China and South Korea on Monday urged North
Korea to return swiftly to the six-party denuclearization talks as a way of
addressing its nuclear ambitions, while vowing to promote regional economic
cooperation with the concept of an ''East Asian community.''

The ministers also agreed at a meeting in Shanghai to work to ensure the
success of a key U.N. climate change conference in December in Copenhagen,
where the world is expected to try to clinch a deal on a successor treaty to
the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official
said.
The talks involving Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, Chinese Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi and South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yu
Myung Hwan came as regional powers are stepping up diplomatic drives to bring
North Korea back to the stalled six-party talks on its denuclearization.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, whose country is chairing the talks, will pay an
''official goodwill visit'' to North Korea from Oct. 4 to 6, the North's
official Korean Central News Agency said earlier Monday, a move believed aimed
at encouraging Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table.
''As China has the biggest influence on North Korea, I said (at the meeting)
that when the premier goes (to North Korea), we would like him to have solid
discussions'' with the North Korean leadership on the nuclear standoff, Okada
told reporters after the meeting, voicing hopes that Wen's visit will lead to a
breakthrough in resuming the multilateral dialogue.
The six-party process involves the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan
and Russia.
Referring to the East Asian community concept, Okada said the three ministers
''shared the view that Japan, China and South Korea must take the lead'' in
advancing the initiative, which the ministers indicated would start from
expanding regional economic and financial cooperation such as increased free
trade agreements and making existing currency swap accords more effective.
''While taking the Japan-U.S. alliance as a prerequisite (for Japan's foreign
policy), we will boost interdependence in Asia in the form of an East Asian
community,'' Okada said. ''An East Asian community is a vision. We are working
on it as a big future direction'' to take for Japan and other Asia economies.
The idea of an East Asian community has been drawing more attention after
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama floated it during a meeting with Chinese
President Hu Jintao in New York last week.
On North Korea, Okada told his Chinese and South Korean counterparts that Japan
will never tolerate Pyongyang's development of nuclear weapons and ballistic
missiles, which he termed a ''big threat'' to regional security, according to
the Japanese official.
Yang stressed the need for the three countries to urge North Korea to return to
the six-party talks because China believes the process is a ''realistic and
effective'' approach to the problem, the official said.
Yu also said Seoul believes the six-party process is ''the most effective
framework'' in that regard.
In April, North Korea declared its withdrawal from the six-party talks and in
May conducted a second nuclear test. But leader Kim Jong Il told a Chinese
presidential envoy Sept. 18 that Pyongyang aims to resolve the nuclear standoff
through ''bilateral and multilateral talks.''
While bilateral talks were taken as referring to U.S.-North Korea talks, the
reference to multilateral talks remains unclear.
U.S. President Barack Obama has hinted that Washington may hold one-on-one
talks with North Korea, which Pyongyang has long desired, as part of efforts to
revive the multilateral process.
Among other issues, the three foreign ministers agreed to promote disarmament
and nuclear nonproliferation. In this connection, Okada asked Yang that China
make efforts to reduce its nuclear weapons as part of efforts to achieve a
nuclear-free world, according to the official.
The ministers also discussed U.N. Security Council reforms, global trade
liberalization and the world economy.
The trilateral meeting -- along with bilateral talks with Yang earlier in the
day -- marked Okada's diplomatic debut in Asia since taking office Sept. 16
with the launch of the new government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, whose
Democratic Party of Japan scored a landslide victory in a general election in
late August.
The trilateral talks were aimed at laying the groundwork for a three-way summit
set for Oct. 10 in Beijing.
==Kyodo