SEOUL, July 18 (Xinhuanet) -- South Korea on Monday voiced opposition to Japan's idea to raise the Japanese citizens kidnapping issue in the upcoming six-party nuclear talks.

    "Clearly, the purpose of the six-party talks is to resolve the ... nuclear issue so that other issues can be consulted on through different channels, including bilateral ones," a ranking South Korean official was quoted by South Korean Yonhap News Agency as saying on Monday.

    The South Korean official, who is overseeing Seoul's foreign and national security affairs, also said South Korean delegation to the six-party nuclear talks will present the nature and purpose of the talks -- the resolution of the nuclear issue -- in the keynote speech at the upcoming fourth round of the six-party nuclear talks.

    The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced it will rejoin the six-party talks aimed to resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula in the last week of July. But the exact date of opening of the talks is yet to be decided.

    Moreover, the unnamed South Korean official called on Japan to be more active in ending the nuclear issue, saying Tokyo has been passive in recent trilateral consultations with South Korea and the United States.

    But, the official did not elaborate on what he meant by Japan's passive position.

    The top nuclear negotiators of South Korea, the United States and Japan gathered here last week to coordinate their strategy in resolving the nuclear issue in the six-party talks, which also involve China, the DPRK, and Russia.

    The South Korean official's remarks came four days after Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said that his country will strongly press for the resolution of the kidnapping issue at the nuclear disarmament talks.

    In 2002, the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong-il admitted that his country's agents had kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s to use as language and culture instructors.

    Kim said among the 13 Japanese citizens, five were alive, eight others had died of illness or in accidents.

    However, Japan is skeptical of the DPRK's explanations about the eight dead, urging the DPRK to show evidence to support its claim. Enditem