U.S. welcomes Japan-North Korean summit

SEOUL, South Korea -- The United States joined Japan and South Korea on Saturday in backing new efforts to improve ties with North Korea, saying the communist regime in Pyongyang was showing signs of change.

The joint overture comes at a critical time for diplomacy on the divided Korean peninsula. North Korea revived stalled moves toward reconciliation with Korea last month, and agreed to a landmark summit with Japan later in September.

North Korea even says it will accept an envoy from the United States. Washington is contemplating a resumption of dialogue.

The three allies met to coordinate their North Korea policies ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's summit on Sept. 17 with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

The three "reconfirmed the importance of the international community's engagement of North Korea," a joint statement said, after two days of consultations in Seoul.

The statement said the three "recognized the more constructive attitude recently shown by North Korea in its talks with the international community."

The three allies reiterated Saturday that North Korea should promptly allow the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect its nuclear facilities to determine whether it harbors a clandestine weapons program.

Recent talks between the two Koreas have produced agreements for reunions for families separated by the Korean War, plans to reconnect a cross-border railway and a proposal for an industrial park in the North for South Korean factories.

Also Saturday, the two Koreas' national soccer teams played to a scoreless tie before 60,000 fans waiving small blue and white flags that featured the image of a united Korean peninsula. Organizers hoped the friendly match in Seoul would help ease the two countries' mutual distrust.

The Seoul talks were headed by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, Assistant South Korean Foreign Minister Lee Tae-shik and Hitoshi Tanaka, the Japanese Foreign Ministry's chief of Asian affairs.

Kelly also reaffirmed Washington's "readiness to hold comprehensive and unconditional talks with North Korea," it said.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told South Korea's KBS-TV on Friday that Washington will decide whether and when to send an envoy to Pyongyang after Koizumi's trip. Kelly is tipped to be the envoy.

Koizumi is considering normalizing Japan's relations with the North. Stumbling blocks include Japan's claim that North Korea kidnapped Japanese citizens in the 1970s, and a North Korean demand that Japan pay compensation for its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Washington is still concerned about North Korea's alleged development of nuclear arms and its export of missile parts and technology to such countries as Syria, Libya and Iran.

The three allies reiterated Saturday that North Korea should promptly allow the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect its nuclear facilities to determine whether it harbors a clandestine weapons program.

North Korea froze its nuclear program under a 1994 agreement with Washington. But it is rejecting U.N. inspections, in protest of delays in building two light-water reactors Washington had promised in return for the freeze.