The top diplomats of Japan and South Korea said Saturday that North Korea should take concrete steps to scrap its nuclear arsenal before six-party disarmament talks can resume.
After a meeting in Seoul with visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan told a news conference that Pyongyang must show true commitment toward denuclearization through specific actions. Kim did not elaborate.
Maehara said before engaging in dialogue with the North, it was first necessary that Pyongyang show it is serious about carrying out its own promise to denuclearize.
The North quit six-party nuclear disarmament talks in April of 2009 and conducted its second atomic weapons test a month later.
The talks, chaired by China, also include the two Koreas, Japan, the United States and Russia.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.