Roh described the talks to begin in Beijing among the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and China on Wednesday as a "first step toward a peaceful solution" to the dispute over the communist state's suspected nuclear ambitions, Roh's office said.

"The six-way talks are the first step toward a peaceful solution and I suspect there will be some difficulties ahead. But I hope South Korea, Japan and other countries concerned do their best so as to keep the momentum of dialogue and work out a workable solution," Roh told the Japanese minister.

After the meeting, Kawaguchi told journalists she had delivered a message from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to Roh, calling for cooperation in coping with the nuclear crisis.

"It is important for Japan, South Korea and the United States to maintain close policy cooperation to ensure that the six-way talks become a success," she said.

Following her arrival Friday, Kawaguchi met her South Korean counterpart Yoon Young-Kwan to fine-tune their governments' positions ahead of the six-way talks.

"Kawaguchi said it is important for the participants to deliver a clear message that North Korea should not worsen the nuclear tension," Chung Sang-Ki, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asia-Pacific Affairs Bureau, was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.

Kawaguchi said Japan would raise the issue of Japanese abducted by the communist regime and ballistic missiles, as each country has its own concerns other than the nuclear weapons issue, Chung said.

"South Korea is well aware that the abduction issue is a major concern for the Japanese public, and thus hopes the problem will be resolved to lay the groundwork for Japan and North Korea to resume their talks for diplomatic normalization," Chung said.

Talks on nomalizing ties between Japan and North Korea broke down in October following disputes over Pyongyang's kidnappings of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s.

Pyongyang has warned Tokyo not to broach the abduction issue, saying such a move would only jeopardize the nuclear talks.

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