GMA offers RP to host six-party talks in North Korea

President Arroyo has offered the Philippines as the venue for a possible Six Party Talks to resolve the issues concerning the nuclear program of North Korea.

Malacañang said yesterday Mrs. Arroyo made the offer during a teleconference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, During their discussion, the two leaders reiterated calls for a peaceful resolution to the nuclear issue.

Meeting for the first time through the teleconference, Mrs. Arroyo and Abe said the Six Party Talks involving Japan, the United States, China, Russia, South Korea and North Korea must be revived as a means to bring back Pyongyang to the negotiating table and convince it to drop its nuclear program.

The two leaders held the teleconference last Oct. 20 at around 5 p.m., Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said.

Mrs. Arroyo and Abe again expressed support for the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718 and agreed that the nuclear issue should be resolved through peaceful means.

As chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, "the Philippines is ready to offer its good offices as a venue to explore means to revive the Six Party Talks and engage North Korea in a diplomatic dialogue," Bunye said, citing the highlights of the two leaders’ meeting.

Resolution 1718 was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on Oct. 14 after North Korea claimed to have successfully conducted nuclear testing last Oct. 9.

The resolution imposes a series of economic and commercial sanctions on North Korea.

It also called on North Korea to "return immediately to the Six Party Talks" without precondition.

"Six-Party Talks" is the name given to a series of meetings with the six participating states as a result of North Korea’s withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003.

The aim of these talks is to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns raised by the North Korean nuclear weapons program.

After a series of talks, however, little progress has been made.

In their meeting, Mrs. Arroyo congratulated Abe on his assumption as prime minister, and expressed hope that under his leadership, the excellent relations between the Philippines and Japan would continue, Bunye said.

Mrs. Arroyo also congratulated Abe on the birth of a new member of the imperial family, His Imperial Highness Prince Hisahito, the third child of Prince and Princess Akishimo.

Bunye said Mrs. Arroyo conveyed optimism that the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement would increase trade, investment opportunities and people-to-people contact between the two countries.

Mrs. Arroyo also thanked the Japanese government for its continued support for the rehabilitation and development of Mindanao, and the dispatch of a "development specialist" to the International Monitoring Team for the ceasefire between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Mrs. Arroyo said she was looking forward to the official visit of Abe to Manila on Dec. 8 to 9 and his participation in ASEAN Plus 3 and East Asia Summit. — Aurea Calica