by Our Foreign Desk

The United States, South Korea and Japan agreed in Seoul yesterday to press North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons unilaterally.

The one-day meeting of half of the six-nation negotiating group on Pyongyang’s nuclear energy and weapons programme — minus China, Russia and North Korea itself — urged the North to engage in serious negotiations on the issue.

It followed recent North Korean claims to have tested a new submarine-launched missile and built a nuclear warhead small enough to be mounted on a long-range missile.However, Western analysts remain officially sceptical of both claims.

Yesterday’s meeting was part of a series of such talks meant to co-ordinate a unified stance on North Korea’s small stock of nuclear weapons.

Washington and its allies want Pyongyang to honour previous nuclear agreements. North Korea, however, has consistently demanded that Washington and its allies recognise it as a nuclear weapons power.

US envoy Sung Kim told reporters after the meeting: “We reaffirmed our commitment to continuing the closest possible trilateral co-ordination and consultation.

“We agreed on the importance of enhancing pressure and sanctions on North Korea, even as we keep all diplomatic options on the table and open.”

South Korean envoy Hwang Joon Kook urged the North to engage in discussions in a sincere manner, warning that its diplomatic and international isolation would deepen if it defiantly pushed to develop more weapons.

Envoys from South Korea and the US will fly to Beijing later this week to hold individual talks with their Chinese counterpart, according to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry.

The summit coincided with Japan — which is moving to renounce its constitutional ban on overseas military intervention — beginning to restart its nuclear reactors following the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority approved operational safety plans for the Sendai nuclear power station’s two reactors, owned by Kyushu Electric Power Company.

Yesterday’s approval leaves the Sendai utility needing only on-site checks before it can restart its reactors.

Kyushu Electric plans to restart its number-one reactor in late July, and the number-two unit in late September, though there could be further delays.