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Japanese official calls for N. Korea deadline: Kyodo

TOKYO - A Japanese official has proposed ending six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions and taking the issue to the United Nations Security Council if Pyongyang does not return to the stalled talks before June, Kyodo news agency reported.

So that the French can then stall the whole thing.

Akitaka Saiki, deputy director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, made the proposal at a conference Thursday in Shanghai on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program, Kyodo quoted sources close to the six-way talks as saying in its report late on Saturday. "If North Korea continues to be allowed to postpone a conclusion (to the talks) by its tactics of not attending, the effect on Japan's security will be great," the sources quoted Saiki as saying at the conference, which was closed to media.

The comment marked a departure from previous public comments by Japanese government officials, who have never publicly mentioned any specific deadline for ending the six-way talks or spoken of referring the issue to the UN Security Council, Kyodo said.Â However, the proposal may have been put forward to gauge the reaction of other parties to the talks rather than as the official stance of the Japanese government, Kyodo quoted the sources as saying.

The comments were made at an informal conference attended by envoys and scholars from the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea—all the parties to the six-way talks besides North Korea. Conference participants included Joseph DeTrani, the US special envoy to the six-way talks, Kyodo said.
Posted by: Steve White 2005-03-20

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