South Korea urges Japan's concerted approach toward North Korea

South Korea called on Japan Tuesday to hold close consultations with Seoul and the United States before contacting North Korea to ensure a concerted approach to the communist country. The call came after Japan's Kyodo News reported earlier in the day that Isao Lijima, an advisor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, made a multi-day visit to the Chinese border city of Dalian last October for a secret meeting with North Korean officials, suggesting the resumption of North Korea-Tokyo negotiations on key issues, including North Korea's abduction of some Japanese citizens. "Japan needs to deal with issues with North Korea under close (trilateral) communication and consultation with South Korea and the United State as it does over the North Korean nuclear missile issue," foreign ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young said in a briefing. Seoul is not sure of the Pyongyang-Tokyo contact taking place, he said, adding that the ministry is in the process of verifying it. The official's remarks highlight Seoul's concerns that Japan's stance to go it alone may impair the concerted approaches needed in dealing with North Korea, a country often seen erratic and secretive. Japan has many pending issues with North Korea, including the most overriding issue of North Korea's abduction and holding of some Japanese nationals. Touching on another news report on Japan's plan to send a cabinet member to the so-called Takeshima Day, Cho called on Japan to stop its "absurd" territorial claims to the easternmost South Korean islets of Dokdo. Japan has annually hosted the event in recent years in efforts to lay claim to the South Korean islets, which it refers to as Taekshima.