Global security talks

March 16, 2014

Japan eyes confab with U.S., China, S. Korea to curb nuclear terrorism

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140316p2a00m0na007000c.html 

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan is making arrangements to hold its first working-level talks with the United States, China and South Korea in July to curb nuclear terrorism, a growing major threat to global security, a Japanese government source said Saturday.

Cooperation among the four nations is aimed at countering North Korea's nuclear ambitions and missile weapons development, the source said.

Japan hopes to use the multilateral dialogue, expected to be held in Washington, to pave the way for mending its strained relations with China and South Korea through "an issue of common concern," according to the source.

Japan's ties with China and South Korea are chilly over territorial disputes and differences in perception on wartime history.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, when he attends the Nuclear Security Summit scheduled for March 24 to 25 in The Hague, the Netherlands, is set to announce during the summit Japan's policy of increasing its commitment to addressing nuclear proliferation and terrorism in cooperation with other countries, bearing in mind frameworks such as the four-nation dialogue.

Abe is expected to say Japan will seek the cooperation of the International Atomic Energy Agency and participants in the summit, including China and South Korea, on measures to prevent the spread of nuclear terrorism such as terrorist attacks on nuclear power plants, the source said.

"It's the perfect opportunity for Japan, being the only country that has suffered wartime atomic bombing, to make an appeal for its efforts to promote nuclear nonproliferation," an aide to the premier said.

According to the source, the government will send to the working-level meeting staff from the Integrated Support Center for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Nuclear Security, which is based in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture.

The center is prodding related organizations in China and South Korea to send their own representatives, while officials from the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration are expected to attend the multilateral talks, the source said.

Representatives from the four countries plan to discuss challenges in preventing nuclear terrorist attacks globally and share the scheme in which Japan and the United States, in particular, deal with nuclear security concerns, the source said.

In the field of nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear security, Japan has the potential to contribute in the field of nuclear forensics, which analyzes the composition of nuclear materials, in cooperation with the United States.

The Japanese government set up the center in December 2010 under the Japan Atomic Energy Agency to boost nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear security.

The center's activities include safeguarding nuclear materials such as plutonium and developing technology to track down the place of origin of nuclear materials.

March 16, 2014(Mainichi Japan)