U.N. chief considers visiting Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul ahead of G-8 summit

NEW YORK, April 4 Kyodo

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is considering starting his first official Northeast Asian trip by visiting Tokyo, Beijing and Seoul before attending July's Group of Eight summit in Hokkaido, northern Japan, diplomatic sources told Kyodo News.

The former South Korean minister of foreign affairs and trade has made numerous trips all over the world since taking his post in January last year, even traveling to Antarctica to highlight damage from climate change, which he has promoted as a top priority item. But he has yet to travel to his home region.

While his plans in the three countries have yet to be finalized, officials from the region anticipate the U.N. chief will meet with the top leaders in the countries to address a host of pressing issues.

The sources say preparatory talks between the world body and officials in the three countries have begun but added the schedule will be finalized only in the weeks leading up to the envisaged visit, ahead of the G-8 summit at Hokkaido's Lake Toya resort July 7-9.

Ban's visit to China and Japan is apparently designed to enlist support from the countries as a way to solidify his status as the U.N. chief given that China, a permanent U.N. Security Council member, and Japan, the second-largest contributor to the United Nations, are major players in the region. Ban's visit to South Korea, his home country, is expected to meet with great fanfare.

In Tokyo, Beijing and Seoul, Ban is expected to discuss the stalled six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue. Officials suggest he is unlikely to extend his trip to include a stopover in Pyongyang.

The multilateral meeting involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia is aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

In addition, the U.N. chief is expected to address climate change and the issue of North Korean abductions of Japanese nationals. The abduction issue has been divisive for Tokyo and Pyongyang.

Also high on the agenda during the expected meetings between Ban and Japanese officials will be Japan's ambition to gain a slot as a new permanent seat-holder on an expanded Security Council.

Talks on climate change will be held as the United Nations hopes that negotiations to establish a new framework after the 2012 expiration of the Kyoto Protocol will be concluded next year.

China and Japan are key actors in climate talks as both are major greenhouse gas emitters.

According to diplomats and U.N. officials, Ban has been invited to attend the Beijing Olympics starting Aug. 8. Whether he will attend is uncertain, they said.

An official suggested it would make no sense for Ban to visit China twice in his official capacity within a short period. Another factor for Ban to consider is the situation in Tibet, where riots peaked March 14, sparking protests in other parts of China ahead of Beijing's hosting the Olympics.

China claims 18 civilians and a police officer were killed in the riots but nongovernmental organizations say the death toll from the Chinese military crackdown was much higher.

In Tokyo, Japanese officials are expected to press Ban to work hard to help Japan gain permanent Security Council membership.

Intense lobbying by the so-called Group of Four -- Brazil, Germany, India and Japan -- has yielded no tangible results in its bid to change the council.

Fresh efforts are under way in the General Assembly, spawning hope in some quarters that intergovernmental negotiations might begin and serve as a crucial step in addressing the contentious issue of altering the council framework.

But the expansion of the Security Council has been hotly debated, with at least one group of countries -- Uniting for Consensus -- calling for enlarging only the number of nonpermanent council slots.

COPYRIGHT 2008 Kyodo News International, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning