*EPF103 03/27/00
Text: State Department on March 30 U.S.-Japan-South Korea Meeting
(Trilateral group to discuss North Korea) (240)

The U.S. Department of State announced March 27 that State Department Counselor Wendy Sherman will lead an American delegation in Tokyo March 30 for discussions about policies toward North Korea with delegations led by the Republic of Korea's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Jan Jai-ryong and Japan's Deputy Vice Minister for Foreign Policy Yukio Takeuchi.

Following is the text of the State Department announcement:

(begin text)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman

March 27, 2000

STATEMENT BY JAMES B. FOLEY, DEPUTY SPOKESMAN

U.S., ROK, JAPAN TO MEET MARCH 30

Delegations representing the United States, the Republic of Korea, and Japan will meet for trilateral consultations in Tokyo, March 30, 2000. Delegations of the three countries -- led respectively by Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman, Counselor of the State Department; Jang Jai-ryong, ROK Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs; and Yukio Takeuchi, Japan's Deputy Vice Minister for Foreign Policy -- will discuss a range of issues in our ongoing coordination of policy toward the DPRK.

The March trilateral meeting is part of a continuing process of close and cooperative consultations among the three countries, formalized in Hawaii on April 25, 1999 as the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group.

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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State - www.usinfo.state.gov)

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