On Monday, Japan's top foreign exchange official, Jun Mimura, denied a report in the Yomiuri Shimbun that quoted U.S. Treasury Secretary Samson as saying a weaker dollar and a stronger yen were desirable during a bilateral meeting with Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato in Washington. The foreign exchange target was not discussed during the meeting, Mr. Mimura said. Last Thursday, Kato and Samson held their first face-to-face talks on the sidelines of IMF and World Bank meetings. (Kim Ten)