S.Korean president meets Japanese FM

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura shared the view that the six-party talks on the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula should move forward smoothly, according to Roh's spokesman on Saturday.

Their joint stance came as the multilateral talks aimed to resolve the standoff are stalled with a scheduled fourth round of the six-party talks failed to be convened in September.

During his talks with Roh, the Japanese top diplomat expressed gratitude for Seoul's letters of consolation for the recent devastation by powerful earthquakes in his country.

Roh said he felt sorry about the quakes and hoped Japan would quickly overcome the difficulties.

A series of quakes hit Niigata, about 250 kilometers northwest of Tokyo, late last month, leaving at least 31 people dead and more than 100,000 homeless.

Later in the day, Machimura is to hold talks with his South Korean counterpart Ban Ki-moon and Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on the nuclear issue.

The Japanese diplomat, who arrived in Seoul Friday, is scheduled to return home Sunday.

Source: Xinhua