S.Korean leader to visit Japan amid nuclear stand-off

SEOUL (AFP) — South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak will visit Japan on Sunday for talks with Prime Minister Taro Aso, Lee's office said, amid growing tensions over North Korea's nuclear programmes.

During his one-day visit Lee will exchange views on topics including the North's nuclear issue, the presidential office said in a statement.


Lee will also discuss the state of Korea-Japan relations and regional and international cooperation, it said.

The South Korean leader is expected to brief Aso on his summit last week with US President Barack Obama in Washington.

Obama warned that a nuclear North Korea is a "grave threat" and said he would not tolerate its strategy of extracting rewards with belligerent behaviour.

After the United Nations imposed sanctions for its May 25 nuclear test, the North vowed to build more nuclear bombs and to start a separate atomic weapons programme based on enriched uranium.

South Korea and Japan are members of a six-nation forum which was negotiating an end to the North's nuclear programmes.

The forum also includes China, the United States, Russia and the North itself. But Pyongyang announced on April 14 it was quitting the talks, in protest at UN censure of its long-range rocket launch early that month.

The senior South Korean and Russian nuclear negotiators will hold talks in Moscow this week to coordinate their approaches, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

Wi Sung-Lac will visit Russia from Tuesday to Thursday for consultations with his counterpart Alexei Borodavkin, said ministry spokesman Moon Tae-Young.

"The government has been in close consultations with relevant countries as part of international cooperation since North Korea's nuclear test," Moon said.

"The visit to Russia is part of such diplomatic efforts."