Japanese officials and a visiting US envoy agreed Friday that they would work to persuade North Korea to take steps toward denuclearization, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said, according to dpa. Stephen Bosworth, the US special representative on North Korea, described his talks in Tokyo as productive as he ended an Asia tour that began this week in Seoul and also took in Beijing. "I think we are talking about and moving forward together in our attempt to address the questions of the Korean Peninsula," he told reporters after meeting with Vice Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae. China, North Korea's only major ally, has been calling for a quick resumption of six-nation talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear weapons programme, but the United States, Japan and South Korea have said they want to see Pyongyang take promised steps toward ending its programme as a sign of commitment before the negotiations could resume. Bosworth had been expected to discuss with Japanese officials what conditions should be set before the talks, which have been stalled since late 2008, could pick up again. The US and Japan are involved in the talks along with the two Koreas, China and Russia. A flurry of diplomatic activity kicked off after an artillery attack by North Korea in November on a South Korean island killed four people and ratcheted up tensions on the peninsula. That same month, North Korea also revealed a previously unknown uranium-enrichment facility to a visiting US scientist.
