The government said Friday it will appoint Akitaka Saiki, chief negotiator for Japan-North Korea governmental talks, as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the United States, officials said.

Saiki, 53, currently deputy chief of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, has taken part in diplomacy with North Korea, with which Japan has no diplomatic relations, since September 2002.

The government also appointed Nobuyasu Abe, 60, as ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

It also appointed Tetsuhisa Shirakawa, 57, as ambassador to Croatia.