InsideJapan News Network

Japan has said it will present a united front with the US and South Korea in an effort to encourage North Korea to abandon its nuclear arsenal.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice recently said the isolated Stalinist nation would soon submit a declaration of its nuclear programmes, which would be rewarded with its removal from the so-called Axis of Evil, consisting of those states which allegedly sponsor terrorism.

Japan has previously opposed moves to downgrade North Korea's status as a sponsor of terrorism.

At a meeting with the US and South Korean representatives, the Japanese foreign minister Masahiko Komura commented: "On North Korea, what is important is for us to speak with one voice. We hope that we will continue to closely cooperate."

Meanwhile, the South Korean nuclear envoy Kim Sook spoke of his hope that progress would be made towards the denuclearisation of North Korea.



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