Official says close cooperation continues over NK

(6 Mar 2004) 1. South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon at podium 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, South Korean Foreign and Trade Minister "As far as North Korea is concerned the most imminent problem is the North Korean nuclear issue. The United States and Korea and Japan together with Russia and China in the form of six party talks have been trying to resolve this issue as soon as possible. We have demanded that North Korea should give up their nuclear programmes in complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement way, including the highly enriched uranium programs as was revealed by the admission of the Pakistani side's Dr. (A.Q.) Khan." 3. Wideshot of audience 4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ban Ki-moon, South Korean Foreign and Trade Minister "The United States and Korea are in close coordination and consultation to resolve first of all, the North Korean nuclear issue peacefully through a dialogue and also to have improved relationships between South and North Korea. We hope that with the resolution of North Korea nuclear issue, United States and Japan will be able to have improved relationship. It will be very helpful for the peace and stability not only of the Korean peninsula, but also in northeast Asia." 5. Audience 6. SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Ban Ki-moon, South Korean Foreign and Trade Minister "My hope is that we resolve the issue of North Korea's nuclear programme. Once that has been resolved, we can focus more strongly on other issues such as human rights, troop movement on the Korean peninsula and security assurances for North and South. We have had success with five of the six nations in the six party talks and the dialogue has opened. Ending the North Korean nuclear programme will not happen overnight, it will take time and we are moving in that direction." 7. Ki-moon at podium, zoom in STORYLINE: Concluding a visit to Washington, South Korea's Foreign Minister, Ban Ki-moon, said South Korea was working closely with the US to resolve the North Korea nuclear issue. Ban was talking to a Washington think-tank. On Thursday, Ban and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said South Korea, China and Russia will provide North Korea with economic aid if Pyongyang freezes its nuclear weapons programmes as a step toward completely scrapping them. But the United States and Japan won't contribute to any aid package for the impoverished North until Pyongyang provides credible evidence of its willingness to dismantle them, they said. Agreement on the allies' roles in offering aid came during a Thursday meeting between Powell and Ban in Washington to coordinate strategy in ending the 16-month nuclear crisis. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...