Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba left Tuesday for Washington to discuss North Korea, Iran and other major global issues with his counterparts from the Group of Eight countries.
A two-day meeting of the ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States will begin with a working lunch Wednesday, just ahead of the five-day window that North Korea has set to launch what it claims is an observation satellite on a long-range rocket.
On Tuesday, Genba will hold a bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, during which the ongoing talks on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan will be a major topic, in addition to Pyongyang's launch plan.