The chief Japanese and U.S. negotiators on North Korea's nuclear weapons met Saturday in Tokyo and confirmed their solidarity -- including Washington's support for Tokyo's hard line on the abduction issue -- during the six-party talks resuming Monday.
The meeting between Christopher Hill, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, and Kenichiro Sasae, head of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at the Foreign Ministry, took place one day before negotiators are getting together in Beijing to lay the groundwork for the resumption of the long-stalled six-way negotiations.
Sasae told reporters he and Hill agreed to cooperate closely, including on bilateral issues between the U.S. and North Korea, and those between Japan and the North.