January 4, 2003	Saturday	Shawwal 30, 1423

WASHINGTON, Jan 3: Senior officials from the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet in Washington next week to discuss the North Korean nuclear crisis, the US State Department said.

The two-day conference, which is to begin on Monday, will look for expanding cooperation among the allies on the issue. James Kelly, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, will represent the United States.

Japan is sending Hitoshi Tanaka, director general of Asian and Oceanic Affairs Bureau in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bureau, while South Korea’s deputy minister for foreign affairs, Lee Tae-sik will represent his country.

“We’re going to continue to apply pressure” on North Korea to prevent it from reviving its nuclear weapons programme, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a briefing in Washington.

“We’ll look for a peaceful and diplomatic solution, but there should be no doubt North Koreans are isolating themselves, and they are already paying the price,” he added.

North Korea launched its nuclear weapons programme several years ago, but later agreed to freeze it after an understanding with the United States and South Korea. But last month, the North Korean government caused an international uproar by removing UN-installed monitoring devices from its nuclear facilities.