Ambassador Pritchard Visits South Korea Tomorrow

Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Tae-sik, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, James Kelly, and director of the Asia-Pacific bureau of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Danaka Hitoshi met in a Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) session in Tokyo, Japan, to discuss North Korea polices in the hills of South Korean presidential envoy Lim Dong-Won`s visit to North Korea, They evaluated the results of special envoy Lim`s visit and the statements on dialogue resumption made by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, and agreed that Japan and the U.S. also need to have dialogues with North Korea.

Jack Pritchard ambassador for negotiations with North Korea (see the picture) will visit South Korea on April 11, and he is expected to exchange views on the results of special envoy Lim`s visit and to discuss his own trip to North Korea. It is known that Pritchard will discuss his itinerary in North Korea with North Korean ambassador to the UN, Park Gil-Young, within several days. However, since it takes time to adjust discussion issues and schedules, it seems that Pritchard may have a slim chance of visiting North Korea in April or May.

Japanese side expressed their eagerness to talk with North Korea directly in the future as they evaluated favorably North Korean statements on issues of Red Cross negotiation and resumption of investigation into missing Japanese nationals.

ksshim@donga.com