By SPA,
Tokyo : The foreign ministers of the world’s top industrialized countries are meeting in Japan this week, but much of their attention will be focused across the
water on communist North Korea, AP reported.
The effort to strip North Korea of its nuclear weapons program is likely to dominate the two-day Group of Eight meeting starting Thursday in Kyoto.
Japan would like to see the G-8 foreign ministers intensify their efforts in nonproliferation, Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said.
Other top issues the Japanese hosts are planning to discuss are efforts to stop Iran from enriching uranium, enhancement of border security in Afghanistan, and condemnation of Zimbabwe’s holding of a presidential runoff election despite widespread violence.
But North Korea’s possible declaration of all its nuclear programs to China on Thursday and the planned destruction of the cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear complex _ reportedly on Friday _ promised to steal the limelight.
First and foremost is North Korea, said a Foreign Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of ministry policy.
North Korea could turn over a report on its nuclear programs as soon as Thursday.
The delay in producing the list, which was due at the end of last year, has stalled
talks on granting aid to the impoverished nation in return for its denuclearization.
North Korea has invited foreign television stations to broadcast the destruction of the cooling tower, which has been taken as an indication of a breakthrough in the yearslong international talks.
North Korea’s military programs are a primary concern in Japan, which is in easy range of North Korean ballistic missiles. Tokyo has also long demanded a resolution of North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 80s.
Concerns about nuclear proliferation among G-8 members _ the United States, Russia, Germany, France, Japan, Britain, Italy and Canada _ will also focus on Iran.
The European Union froze the assets this week of Iran’s largest bank over Tehran’s refusal to back off uranium enrichment, which Washington and its allies worry could be used to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran has yet to formally respond to a package of trade and economic incentives to make a deal. The offers were made June 14 by the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany.
Iran could also be a point of division among G-8 foreign ministers. While the U.S. has not ruled out military intervention to stop Tehran from making a bomb, Russia is
opposed to the use of force.
The key to resolving the Iranian issue is involvement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week. We must involve Iran, engage Iran in resolving the Iranian nuclear program, but also engage Iran in constructive, respectful, serious dialogue on Iraq and Afghanistan, on the Middle East in general.
Indeed, diplomats from the United States, the EU, the United Nations and Russia called on Tuesday for urgent progress in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and the
Middle East was certain to be discussed in Kyoto.
Japan has been eager to promote discussion of Afghanistan, where it has pledged US$2 billion in aid and is floating ideas for additional assistance, such as vehicles for law enforcement.
Reconstruction of Afghanistan is crucial in our fight against terrorism, Komura said.
Fighting between Taliban-led insurgents and foreign and government forces has been surging across the south and east of the country, with nearly 2,000 people killed in
insurgency-related violence so far in 2008.