Hatoyama, Aso meet ahead of launch of new government

TOKYO, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) leader Yukio Hatoyama met with outgoing Prime Minister Taro Aso on Monday to seek his cooperation for a smooth handover of power two days ahead of the launch of the new government.

Hatoyama and Aso, who is president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), met in parliament along with Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura of the LDP and his successor Hirofumi Hirano of the DPJ, ahead of Wednesday's launch of a new Cabinet to be led by Hatoyama, according to Kyodo News.

Hatoyama asked Aso to offer advice on governance as a former prime minister. He also asked Aso for advice on diplomacy ahead of his scheduled trip to attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York and the Group of 20 financial summit in Pittsburgh.

Aso responded, "I hope you will work hard and will not take the wrong direction" in foreign policy, international finance, and national security, Kyodo quoted Hirano as saying.

Hatoyama also made inquiries about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) nuclear and abduction problems, while Aso said the Pyongyang Declaration issued by the two countries in 2002"is still alive and that the incoming government should stick to it."

But the two did not go into further details about foreign and national