Talks on North Korea may be held in KL in June
Malaysia may host a meeting of five nations - China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea and the United States - to discuss Pyongyang's nuclear programme, a Japanese newspaper said Sunday.
China has showed intention of attending the proposed five-way meeting and is now urging North Korea to participate, the Sankei Shimbun said, quoting government sources.
Kuala Lumpur has emerged as a potential venue of the proposed talks because Beijing, which often hosts talks over North Korea, is under fire for the Sars outbreak, the daily said.
Malaysia may host a meeting of five nations - China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea and the United States - to discuss Pyongyang's nuclear programme, a Japanese newspaper said Sunday.
China has showed intention of attending the proposed five-way meeting and is now urging North Korea to participate, the Sankei Shimbun said, quoting government sources.
Kuala Lumpur has emerged as a potential venue of the proposed talks because Beijing, which often hosts talks over North Korea, is under fire for the Sars outbreak, the daily said.
Embassy present
The Malaysian capital is seen as a favorable location for such meetings on North Korea because it has an embassy there, it said.
During the planned talks, the United States and its two allies - Japan and South Korea - are expected to refuse any economic assistance to North Korea until Pyongyang gives up its nuclear programme, the daily said.
Senior officials of the three nations are scheduled to hold separate talks in Hawaii in mid-June and confirm their refusal of immediate aid to the North, the newspaper said.
North Korea held talks with China and the United States in Beijing in late April as countries in the region were calling on Pyongyang to ease concerns over the nuclear issue through dialogue.
Japan and South Korea, which were excluded from the previous talks, are demanding their participation in future multilateral talks with North Korea.
Mounting tensions
The current crisis stems from US revelation in October that North Korea was pursuing a secret nuclear weapons drive in breach of international accords including the 1994 Agreed Framework between Washington and Pyongyang.
Since then, Pyongyang has ratcheted up tensions, expelling international nuclear inspectors, testing missiles and announcing its withdrawal on January 10 from the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
North Korea asserts that its very existence is threatened by US plans to launch nuclear war against the isolated and impoverished country, branded by President George W Bush as part of an "axis of evil" along with Iran and Iraq. - AFP
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