Han to Be Busy On Sidelines of Asian Meeting

HANOI － Han Seung-soo, minister of foreign affairs and trade, will meet with his counterparts from Japan, China and Russia on the sidelines of a meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations, which opens here Wednesday.

Mr. Han will hold talks Tuesday with Tang Jiaxuan, foreign minister of China, on bilateral cooperation in tackling the Japanese history textbook issue and to discuss solutions to the problem of North Korean defectors residing in China. He will reportedly ask for China's help in resuming talks between the two Koreas and between Washington and Pyongyang.

He will meet Wednesday with his Japanese counterpart, Makiko Tanaka, to discuss the textbook issue, the Kurils fishing dispute and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's planned visit to the Yasukuni shrine.

On Thursday, Mr. Han will meet with Igor Ivanov, Russia's foreign minister, to discuss a planned visit to Russia by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

He returns to Seoul on Friday to discuss cooperative measures for the early resumption of South-North talks with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Diplomatic sources in Hanoi said contacts between North and South Korea are unlikely at the ASEAN meeting.

by Lee Chul-hee