The Japanese and South Korean defense ministers agreed Wednesday on peace solution to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) nuclear programs and the Iraqi rehabilitation.  

In the talks in Tokyo, Japanese Defense Agency Director General Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean Defense Minister Cho Yong-kil agreed it is important to resume the six-party talks on the nuclear issue.

Representatives from China, the DPRK, the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia held the first talks in August in Beijing without any agreement. Efforts are under way to realize the second round, hopefully in mid-December.

While Ishiba said that deterrence and pressure have a role to play in peaceful and diplomatic multilateral efforts to address DPRK's nuclear ambitions, Cho emphasized the importance of patiently urging the DPRK not to "make a militarily erroneous decision," Kyodo News quoted a Japanese official as saying.

On Iraq issue, Ishiba said the Japanese government will decide on the timing and details of sending the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) there after hearing a report from an SDF survey team currently on its way back to Japan.

Cho told Ishiba that the South Korean government, which has already dispatched ground troops to Nasiriyah in southern Iraq, plans to send more troops.

Cho will pay a visit to bases of the SDF before wrapping up his three-day tour on Friday.

(Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2003)