Japan, SKorea summit to focus on NKorea

JAPAN: South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak arrived in Japan Sunday for talks with Prime Minister Taro Aso, as simmering tensions over North Korea's nuclear programs topped the agenda.

The summit comes as Pyongyang steps up its confrontational rhetoric amid global suspicions that the regime is preparing to fire more missiles and stage a military exercise off its east coast.

Regional tensions spiked after North Korea last month carried out an underground nuclear test for the second time, followed by missile launches. The two leaders are likely to discuss the implementation of UN sanctions against North Korea, which call for tougher inspections of cargo suspected of containing banned missile- and nuclear-related items.

Lee and Aso are expected to reiterate their calls on China to help put pressure on North Korea to heed the wishes of the international community and to drop its nuclear ambitions.

Lee is also expected to discuss his recent talks with US President Barack Obama, with whom he mulled five-way talks with China, Russia and Japan about pressuring Pyongyang.

China is North Korea's main ally and has always favoured cautious diplomacy towards Pyongyang, wary of any moves that could push the regime to collapse and potentially send millions of refugees streaming over its border.

However, six-way talks including North Korea made little progress on its nuclear disarmament, with Pyongyang detonating nuclear explosions in 2006 and on May 25 this year.

Tokyo,Sunday, AFP