Japan, Russia agree on ‘concrete’ steps to end territorial row

LIMA - Japan and Russia agreed Saturday to take “concrete” steps toward resolving a territorial dispute, while urging North Korea to show a clear plan for junking its nuclear program, an official said.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, who took office in September, held his first talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Lima.

“As for the territorial issue ... we agreed to order government officials to begin concrete work,” said a Japanese government official, who attended the talks.

Russia and Japan have never signed a peace treaty to formally end World War II due to Tokyo’s claims over four islands which Soviet troops seized in 1945 off Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.

Aso and Medvedev also called on North Korea to clarify steps it would take to denuclearize under a six-nation aid-for-disarmament pact.

“As for the North Korean issue, we agreed on the need for a document to practically verify” Pyongyang’s declearization process, the Japanese official said.

Sunday, AFP