Japan leader: U.S. 'weak-kneed' on N.Korea

TOKYO, April 7 (UPI) -- The leader of Japan's ruling political party says former U.S. officials such as Condoleezza Rice were "weak-kneed" in dealing with North Korea.

Rice, who was secretary of State under former U.S. President George W. Bush, and former chief U.S. negotiator for North Korean denuclearization Christopher Hill weren't willing to stand up to Pyongyang, Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroyuki Hosoda reportedly asserted Tuesday.

The Japanese news agency Kyodo quoted Hosoda saying at an LDP meeting, "They were weak-kneed. Their ways of dealing with the issue were wrong."

Hosoda also bemoaned the lack of progress in the six-nation denuclearization talks with Pyongyang, saying, "North Korea only destroyed a water cooling tower" at its Yongbyon nuclear facility last October. "It is not clear how many nuclear bombs North Korea possesses or how far its uranium enrichment programs go."