TOKYO (AP) -- U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday he would soon visit North Korea following its recent declaration of its nuclear programs, and he urged nations negotiating with the regime to keep up the momentum in denuclearization talks.

"I have been discussing this with the North Korean authorities. They said they would welcome my visit anytime, but I would like to find out when would be the most opportune and appropriate timing," Ban told reporters in Tokyo.

The U.N. secretary general described North Korea's submission of a long-delayed declaration of its nuclear programs and the destruction of a cooling tower last week as "very encouraging," and said the countries involved in the process "should not lose this momentum."

The action by the North was welcomed as the completion of a key step in the six-nation talks that aim to permanently disable Pyongyang's nuclear programs. The other nations involved in the disarmament talks are the U.S., South Korea, Japan, Russia and host China.

In exchange, Washington will lift some economic sanctions against the North and said it would remove the country from a U.S. State Department list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Ban also said he hoped for a swift resolution of the long-running issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea. The abductions in the 1970s and 80s remain a high-profile issue in Tokyo, which has made settlement of the matter a condition for providing aid to the North as well as improving bilateral relations.

He said he hoped for dialogue between the two countries to "address this issue once and for all."

The U.N. leader said he would push for a 2020 midterm target for global carbon emissions at the upcoming Group of Eight summit to be held July 7-9 on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

G-8 leaders have expressed support for cutting emissions in half by 2050, and are expected to reiterate that target at the summit.

Ban spoke at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo, at the end of a visit to meet Japanese government officials and business leaders. He will return to Japan for the summit after visiting China and South Korea.

Copyright 2005-2006 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. Mainichi features the best news in Japan, current news in Japan, Japan news in English, Japan business news, Tokyo Japan news, and Japan entertainment news. Mainichi News is syndicated in accordance with editorial regulations: personal and noncommercial purposes.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Write comment

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment