Japan and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) finished two-days of talks on Thursday in Ulan Bator with no practical achievements but agreeing to meet again.
Kim Chol Ho, vice director of DPRK Foreign Ministry's Asian Affairs Department, said at a press conference that talks were held in a serious atmosphere with both sides explaining their views on issues they were concerned about, including the abduction of the Japanese citizens, and Japan's reparation for its colonization rule of the Korean Peninsula. But differences still remained.
However, "both sides agreed to continue meeting in the future, and to create a positive atmosphere for the normalization of bilateral relations," Kim said.
Yoshiki Mine, Japan's ambassador in charge of normalization talks with the DPRK, also said that there had been no breakthrough.
"North Korea's position basically remained the same (over the abduction issue)," Mine told reporters, referring to Pyongyang's stance that it has already done all it can and considers the cases closed.
Japan has set the abduction issue as a precondition of normalization talks with the DPRK, and said it would consider setting up a committee to look into the reparation if Pyongyang agreed to reopen the abduction investigation.
Both Japan and the DPRK expressed the willingness to try to "deepen understanding" of their positions and hold talks "in a sincere manner" as frequently as possible in order to solve their problems.
"We did not solve issues of concern during the two days of talks, but I believe the fact that we were able to exchange opinions in an in-depth manner was beneficial," Mine said. "I believe this represents a certain degree of achievement."
The Japan-DPRK panel is the last of the five working groups set up under the six-party process, paving the way for a plenary session of the next round of six-party talks.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article