ニュース 2009/06/01 Hatoyama meets with US Deputy Secretary of State On June 1, DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama met with a delegation led by United States Deputy Secretary of State, Dr. James B. Steinberg, at party headquarters, and engaged in an active discussion of various issues, including North Korea. At the start of the meeting, Hatoyama conveyed his appreciation to Steinberg, saying, “I am truly delighted that you were kind enough to come to party headquarters to meet with DPJ members.” Hatoyama went on to say: “We would like to form a DPJ government at the forthcoming general election. Then, I hope that the Democratic Party administrations in both the US and Japan would be able to engage in mutual cooperation to tackle the three big challenges of the abolition of nuclear weapons, global warming and the global financial crisis.” Following this, Hatoyama referred to the issue of North Korea, expressing the opinion that, “We are currently in opposition, but I believe that it is important to draw up a UN resolution that includes additional economic sanctions. The point is whether [such sanctions] are effective or not, and in this respect it is vital to gain the cooperation of China.” Steinberg welcomed this remark, stating, “That is a very significant comment. Even supposing that there is a change of government in Japan, there will be no change in Japan-US relations with regard to North Korea.” Steinberg added that the important thing when dealing with North Korea in future was that the other 5 parties, including China (Japan, the United States, China, Russia, and the Republic of Korea) should persuade North Korea to move toward making the Korean Peninsula a nuclear-free zone. The meeting was also attended by Secretary General Katsuya Okada, Vice President Seiji Maehara, Director General of the Executive Office, Hirofumi Hirano, and Director General of the International Department Tetsundo Iwakuni for the DPJ.