Japanese PM Calls for Diplomatic Solution to DPRK's Nuclear Issue

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, January 13, 2003

Japanese PM Calls for Diplomatic Solution to DPRK's Nuclear Issue

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Japan is willing to make joint efforts with Russia to tap a diplomatic solution to the nuclear crisis in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK), Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Sunday at a press conference in Russia's Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk.

Koizumi ended his four-day official visit to Russia after making a stopover in Khabarovsk.

"North Korea (DPRK) must become a true member of the world community. Its isolation is negative for the region and the international community as a whole," Koizumi was quoted by the Itar-tass news agency as saying.

He reiterated Japan's call to the DPRK to reverse its decision to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) immediately.

Koizumi said Russian President Vladimir Putin and he had agreedto try to convince the DPRK leadership that a peaceful solution ofthe nuclear crisis would benefit Pyongyang even more than others.

The doors for negotiations are always open, and there is the hope that the DPRK will remove the factors that caused serious concerns around the world and will join the international community, the Japanese prime minister added.

In his first visit to Russia, Koizumi held talks on Friday withPutin in Moscow on bilateral cooperation and the DPRK's nuclear crisis. The two leaders also signed a joint six-point action plan designed to map out the two countries' relations in the coming decades, focusing on the need to settle a long-standing territorial dispute that has kept the two nations from signing a formal post-World War II peace treaty.

Questions?Comments? Click here

Talks Between DPRK Diplomats, US Governor End

US Urged to Start Direct Talks with DPRK

Why Doesn't US Set to 'Use Force' Against DPRK? ( 12 Messages)

New-Generation Nuclear Reactor Put into Use in China ( 2 Messages)

US, Iraq Change from 'Allies' to Enemies: Commentary ( 5 Messages)

To Occupy China's Diaoyu Islands, Japan's Fond Dream for Long ( 2 Messages)

US-Taiwan Military Cooperation 'will Harm Sino-US Ties' ( 8 Messages)