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Japan to raise North Korea nuclear issue at G8
Japan will raise the issue of North Korea's nuclear arms development at next week's Group of Eight summit, Deputy Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka said on Monday. North Korea, which said in February it had nuclear weapons, has said it may return to stalled six-party talks on its nuclear programs as early as July but has not set a date for doing so. "The present situation is very worrisome and it is a matter of course that this issue will be discussed," said Yabunaka, who is Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's special representative, or sherpa, for the summit of industrialized nations. The leaders of the G8 countries -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and Russia -- are to meet in Gleneagles, Scotland, from July 6-8. "Japan of course cannot tolerate North Korea's nuclear development. Our basic thinking is that six-way talks should be resumed quickly to resolve this issue," Yabunaka said in an interview. Before assuming his current post in January, Yabunaka headed the ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau and served as Japan's chief negotiator at the six-way talks. The United States, North Korea and South Korea, China, Japan and Russia have held three rounds of inconclusive talks in Beijing, with the last session held in June last year. AID FOR AFRICA British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who chairs this year's G8, has put climate change and helping Africa at the top of the summit's agenda. G8 finance ministers clinched a deal on June 11 to wipe out more than $40 billion of impoverished nations' debts to multilateral lenders in a drive to help free Africa from hunger and disease. Despite the debt relief agreement, Yabunaka said loans, and not just grants, had a role to play in development aid. "If there is a perception that loans are bad, I think that would be wrong," he said. "There is the example of Asia's success. In Asia, the bulk of infrastructure projects have been conducted with loans and they are working well." Japan, once the world's top donor but now the second-largest, has cut its official development assistance budget for six straight years amid efforts to curb its public debt. But Koizumi, who announced in April that Japan would double aid to Africa over the next three years, said this month that Tokyo should consider boosting its foreign aid spending for the first time since 1999. Apart from the G8, leaders of China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico will also attend the summit. The wider discussions are likely to cover issues related to the world economy as a whole, and will not focus solely on China's currency, Yabunaka said. "There are various issues with the world economy as a whole, including high oil prices. Including such energy-related issues we will have discussions on various themes facing the world economy," he said. "I think there will be various discussions ... but I don't think it will be focused on the yuan," Yabunaka added. China's trading partners have pressured Beijing to allow the yuan to appreciate, saying the policy of pegging it around 8.28 to the dollar undervalues it and gives Chinese exporters an unfair advantage on international markets. Beijing has said it will gradually make the yuan more flexible according to its own timetable and needs.
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