Japan will closely cooperate with the other five sides with a constructive attitude in the ongoing six-party talks, Japanese delegation head Sasae Kenichiro said on Wednesday in Beijing.

Sasae Kenichiro, also Director General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, made the remarks in his keynote speech at the plenary session of the talks, which was held in Beijing on Wednesday morning.

He said the framework of the six-party talks should perform efficiently, so as to resolve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue as early as possible. "Meanwhile, peaceful settlement of other pendent issues in diplomacy and security should be sought too, so that permanent peace will be realized in northeast Asia," he added.

Sasae Kenichiro said, "As for the promise of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to scrap its nuclear programs, we will pledge to provide 'security guarantee' for the nation." "In regard to energy aid, we appreciate the 'important proposal' (to provide 2 million kwh of electricity to the DPRK) raised by the government of the Republic of Korea (ROK)," he noted.

According to Sasae Kenichiro, the basic principles of the Japanese side remained unchanged, that is to say, Japan is in pursuit for settlement of a series of pendent issues through the six-party talks and related bilateral contacts and in accordance with the spirit of the Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration. The settlement will be conducive to the normalization of the relationship between Japan and the DPRK, he added.

"We earnestly wish the six nations to reach consensus on major subjects of the current talks," Sasae Kenichiro said.

Source: Xinhua