SINGAPORE, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Leaders of Japan, China and South Korea, meeting in Singapore, Tuesday agreed North Korea should keep its denuclearization pledge, Kyodo reported.
Meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' summit, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, who met with Japanese Prime Minister Tasuo Fukuda, also expressed support for Tokyo's effort to resolve the issue of the abductions of its citizens allegedly by North Korea, Kyodo said, quoting Japanese officials.
China, Japan and South Korea, along with the United States, Russia and North Korea are members of the six-party talks on North's nuclear disarmament.
"We are still only halfway through and it is important that North Korea carries out the nuclear abandonment, including nuclear arms, in line with the six-party agreement," the Japanese official quoted Fukuda as saying, Kyodo reported.
Additionally, Fukuda, referring to Japan's compensation for the colonization of Korea before World War II, said, "Japan will make efforts to settle the unfortunate (wartime) history with North Korea once the abductions are resolved."
