S. Korean, Japanese PMs discuss DPRK's nuclear test
9/10/2006 17:16
South Korean Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook and Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe today discussed a nuclear test by the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (DPRK) and called for calmness in dealing with the nuclear
issue.
During a luncheon hosted by Han in her mansion, Abe said DPRK's
nuclear test "will never be pardonable."
It is necessary to collect and
analyze more intelligence on the situation with a calm head, Abe said.
Abe
and Han agreed that it was important to maintain cooperation between South Korea
and Japan in a bid to take coordinated measures against the nuclear
test.
DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency said on Monday that the
country had conducted a successful underground nuclear test.
DPRK's nuclear
test has shattered the expectations of the South Korean people and the
international community to resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula in
a peaceful and diplomatic way, and has breached the Joint Statement adopted
during the 4th round of the six-party talks on Sept. 19 last year, Han was
quoted as saying by local media.
Abe arrived in Seoul on Monday morning for a
one-day visit. He is expected to meet with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun
in the afternoon to discuss bilateral ties and the nuclear issue.
"The
upcoming South Korea-Japan summit is expected to facilitate the establishment of
mutual trust between the two leaders as well as the improvement of bilateral
relations," said a news release by the South Korean Presidential Office
earlier.
It would be the first summit meeting between South Korean and
Japanese leaders since last November when Roh met with former Japanese Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi on the the sidelines of the APEC summit in South
Korea's southern port city of Busan.
The relations between South Korea and
Japan have been strained in the past few years due to Koizumi's repeated visits
to the Yasukuni Shrine, as well as disputes over historical and territorial
issues.
xinhua
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