SEOUL, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- The Japanese foreign minister said Saturday North Korea must reopen dialogue with South Korea before six-party nuclear talks can resume.
Seiji Maehara arrived in Seoul for talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and other officials, Yonhap reported.
North Korea had welcomed Maehara's suggestion of direct talks on its nuclear and missile programs and kidnappings of Japanese nationals, which some saw as sending a wrong message to the provocative regime.
But speaking at a security forum in Seoul Saturday, Maehara reaffirmed Japan's solidarity with South Korea and the United States in handling North Korea.
"It is North Korea that engaged in provocative acts, we cannot agree to talks for talks' sake, and (the North) is required to take specific action," he said. "That is the position of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan."
Relations between Seoul and Tokyo have improved since Prime Minister Naoto Kan offered a renewed apology in August for Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of Korea and promised to return centuries-old Korean royal books to Seoul.
