U.S., Japan work on N. Korean crisis

TOKYO -- A senior U.S. envoy and Japan's defense chief agreed Tuesday to use "dialogue and pressure" to persuade North Korea to abandon its suspected nuclear weapons development.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly wrapped up the Tokyo leg of a three-nation Asia tour to coordinate policy ahead of upcoming six-way talks on the North Korean nuclear dispute.

Kelly told reporters that the date for a new round of multilateral negotiations with North Korea was still not set. Kelly then went to Beijing, where he said he would do "more work on that problem."

A six-nation conference including China, the United States, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia in August in Beijing ended with the participants only reiterating their desire to resolve the crisis diplomatically.

South Korean officials have indicated that a second round could take place Dec. 17-18 in Beijing.

Kelly and Ishiba agreed to continue using "dialogue and pressure" to resolve the nuclear crisis, Ishiba told reporters afterward.

"Resolving the matter diplomatically and peacefully does not mean accepting everything (North Korea) says," Ishiba added. "If it tries to benefit from nuclear weapons, weapons of mass destruction, missiles or threats ... that is not acceptable."

Kelly's earlier talks with Japanese officials focused on the question of how to defuse the crisis over North Korea's suspected development of nuclear weapons without compromising Japan's defense.

In Seoul, a senior South Korean official said that he was not "confident" that six-nation talks could alone persuade the communist North to give up its nuclear ambitions.

Kim Hee-sang, national defense adviser for President Roh Moo-hyun, said the North would be reluctant to relinquish its nuclear programs because it was the last playing card that the impoverished and isolated state has.

Meanwhile, North Korea criticized South Korea for planning to deploy U.S.-made missiles near the border and slammed the United States for repeatedly raising the North's human rights record.

South Korea has said it would start deploying the Army Tactical Missile System Block 1A missiles next month near the border with the North. The missile has a 186-mile range and can reach most of North Korea.

"This is an provocative act that throws cold water on the six-nation talks' atmosphere," the North's state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper said Tuesday, according to KCNA, the North's official news agency. KCNA was monitored by Yonhap.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Kelly, who was scheduled to arrive Tuesday evening from Japan, will meet with "relevant officials" during his 24-hour visit. He offered no additional details.