The 10th APEC Economic Leaders Meeting
(Day Two)

Sunday, October 27, 2002

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On the morning of October 27 (dawn on October 28, Japan time) the second day of the APEC Leaders Meeting was held following after the previous day's meetings. The leaders adopted the "APEC Leaders' Statement on North Korea" and the "APEC Economic Leaders' Declaration" and brought the meeting to a close. In the "APEC Leaders' Statement on North Korea," the leaders noted the potential for North Korea to benefit economically from greater participation in the Asia Pacific community, stressed the importance of a nuclear weapons-free Korean Peninsula for the peace and stability of the Northeast Asian region, and called upon North Korea to abandon nuclear development programs. The "APEC Economic Leaders' Declaration" included condemnation of the recent terrorist acts that have taken place in the region and reconfirmation of their intent to strengthen cooperation toward eradicating terrorism. The declaration also contained encouragement to all economies to make efforts to conclude the new World Trade Organization (WTO) Round by January 1, 2005, agreement on the abolition of agricultural export subsidies, a call for an exchange of views in APEC on regional and bilateral trade agreements, and promotion of structural reform to liberalize trade and investment. At his press conference in the afternoon, regarding the normalization talks between Japan and North Korea scheduled to be reopened on November 29, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi stressed that he intended to strongly call upon North Korea to abandon its nuclear development, stating that he intended to urge North Korea to sincerely implement the commitment included in the Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration. On this day Prime Minister Koizumi held summit meetings with President Jiang Zemin of the People's Republic of China and President Vicente Fox Quesada of the United Mexican States. In his summit meeting with President Jiang Zemin, the leaders confirmed that Japan and China would cooperate toward ensuring the cessation of North Korea's nuclear development as Japan resumes normalization talks on October 29. The leaders also exchanged views on a number of issues, including visits to Yasukuni Shrine. Furthermore, in his meeting with President Vicente Fox Quesada, the leaders agreed to begin negotiations on concluding a free trade agreement (FTA) between Japan and Mexico.