Tokyo: US envoy Christopher Hill on a visit to Japan said today "tough" talks are expected during next week's six-nation meeting to scrutinise North Korea's pledge to scrap its nuclear weapons programmes.
"Obviously, there are some really tough issues we re going to take up in Beijing," Hill said after meeting his Japanese counterpart Akitaka Saiki as part of his preliminary contacts ahead of the talks starting Monday.
"As we consider these difficult issues, verification and things like that, we want to make sure that the US and Japan are very close together," he said.
"I think the US and Japan are working very, very closely together and we have a very strong understanding on what needs to be accomplished."
Saiki said he also expected the Beijing talks to "face a difficult situation."
"It is extremely important to form a six-nation agreement in writing which gives no room for misunderstandings and distorted interpretations as to the methods of verification as well as facilities and programmes to be verified," he said.
Hill, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and Saiki, director of Asian and Oceanian affairs at the Japanese foreign ministry, will meet again here on Wednesday, joined by South Korean nuclear envoy Kim Sook.
Hill said he would then go to Singapore and meet his North Korean opposite number, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, during his stay there before heading to Beijing on Sunday.
He said the opinions of the US, Japan and South Korea "are very much in sync."
