Morning Walkthrough in Tokyo, Japan

Morning Walkthrough in Tokyo, Japan

Stephen W. Bosworth
Special Representative for North Korea Policy

Imperial Hotel

Tokyo, Japan

December 13, 2009

AMBASSADOR BOSWORTH: Good morning It’s very nice to be back in Tokyo. I have had very positive and very important meetings here. As you know, I met last evening with the Foreign Minister, and then later with the Vice Foreign Minister. We talked about the conversations I had had in Pyongyang with the North Koreans, and discussed the options as to where we go from here. As you know, I found general areas of convergence between ourselves and the North Koreans, but at this point we don’t know when we might reconvene the Six-Party Talks. Here, our discussions focused on the need for continued unity of purpose among the five, and I found Japan, of course, very cooperative in that regard. We will continue our efforts at coordination over the next several weeks, and we will exercise what Secretary of State Clinton has described as “strategic patience.” So, I would be happy to take a couple of questions.

QUESTION: Could you tell me what kind of discussions did you do with North Korea about Japan?

AMBASSADOR BOSWORTH: We raised the subject of Japan and urged that North Korea engage with Japan, particularly on the issue of the abductees, where, as you all know, the United States has been supportive of Japan’s efforts to resolve this problem. The North Koreans indicated that they would be open to further discussions with Japan about where one might go next.

MODERATOR: One more question?

QUESTION: What kind of words did North Korea use when it talked about the Japanese abduction issue?

AMBASSADOR BOSWORTH: They were very low-key, no rhetoric.

QUESTION: Did they raise any preconditions about restarting the Japan-DPRK dialogue?

AMBASSADOR BOSWORTH: No.

MODERATOR: Last question, anyone? All right, thank you very much.

AMBASSADOR BOSWORTH: Thank you.

ENDS

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