5TH LD: Japan, China both see need for progress in nuke talks: Sasae

BEIJING, Jan. 24 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING COMMENTS BY N. KOREAN NEGOTIATOR IN INTERVIEW WITH XINHUA)

Japan and China both see the need to make substantive progress in the next round of the six-party talks aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear standoff, Japan's top envoy to the nuclear negotiations said Wednesday after talks with his Chinese counterpart.

But in comments to reporters, Kenichiro Sasae, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian affairs bureau, declined to say if Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei presented him with a specific date for the restarting of the talks.

''It is important to obtain results in a specific form toward the implementation of the joint statement,'' Sasae said when asked about Japan's position on the next round of negotiations.

Sasae was referring to the September 2005 joint statement by the six parties, which commits North Korea to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security assurances.

China also ''hopes to move forward by accomplishing results as much as possible,'' he said.

Sasae said both Japan and China thought that talks last week in Berlin between the United States and North Korea were ''extremely beneficial'' for moving the process forward during the next round of nuclear negotiations.

The U.S. and North Korean negotiators held an unprecedented meeting in Berlin, and while the outcome of the bilateral discussions has been kept under wraps, negotiators have hinted at progress being achieved in the talks.

Asked if he was presented with a schedule for the next six-party talks in his talks with Wu, Sasae said, ''China, as the host, is coordinating at the moment, so it would not be appropriate for me to say.''

Sasae is visiting the Chinese capital as part of a flurry of diplomacy aimed at setting a date for restarting the six-party talks, which diplomats have said are likely to take place within the next couple of weeks.

Sasae's counterparts from the United States, South Korea and North Korea all visited Beijing this week and met with Wu.

North Korean nuclear negotiator Kim Kye Gwan, who was in Beijing from Monday after visiting Berlin and Moscow, returned to Pyongyang on Wednesday, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency reported.

''I am satisfied with the results of the talks with the United States, Russia, China and South Korea on how to implement the Sept. 19 agreement,'' Kim was quoted as saying in an interview with China's state-run Xinhua News Agency in Pyongyang.

Kim was referring to the September 2005 joint statement by the six countries.

North Korea and the four countries ''have reached consensus on many issues,'' Xinhua quoted him as saying.

Kim did not meet with Japan's Sasae, who arrived in Beijing shortly before the North Korean's departure.

The six-party talks were last held in December, but progress was blocked by a dispute over U.S. financial restrictions imposed on a Macao-based bank suspected of laundering money and circulating counterfeit money for North Korea.

In that round, North Korea refused to discuss denuclearization until the financial issue was resolved.

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