G-8 urges N. Korea to cooperate in nuke verification

KYOTO, June 28 Kyodo - Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight nations urged North Korea on Friday to ''fully cooperate'' in the verification of its nuclear declaration under the six-nation process and settle the issue of the country's past abductions of
Japanese nationals-- a major concern of Japan.

The ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and
the United States said in a joint statement they ''remain committed to
achieving the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,'' wrapping
up the two-day talks in Kyoto.

Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, the chairman of the G-8 foreign
ministerial talks, said at a press conference, ''We agreed it is important to
continue to help the six-party process make progress and engage in the issue in
a persistent manner toward the final goal of realizing
denuclearization.''

The G-8 foreign ministers reached agreement after North Korea delivered a
long-anticipated declaration of its nuclear programs Thursday to China, which
chairs the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue, and U.S.
President George W. Bush subsequently notified Congress that his administration
plans to remove North Korea from the list of terrorism-sponsoring nations.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also said at a press conference in
Kyoto she expects that North Korea will complete the verification protocol on
its nuclear declaration.

But Rice said she sees a ''long road ahead'' toward denuclearization.

Rice denied she has any plans to visit Pyongyang for now.

The G-8 ministers urged North Korea to ''abandon all nuclear weapons and
existing nuclear programs as well as ballistic missile programs.''

''We also strongly urge North Korea to take prompt actions to address other
security and human rights/humanitarian concerns including the early resolution
of the abduction issue,'' the statement said.

Meanwhile, chief U.S. delegate to the six-nation talks Christopher Hill told
reporters that China circulated North Korea's nuclear declaration among the
members of the six-party talks Friday.

Later in the day, North Korea demolished a cooling tower attached to its key
Yongbyon nuclear reactor in what Rice described as ''a part of the
disablement.''

Rice told reporters after holding a bilateral meeting with Komura, ''Let us
remember, that this is a reactor that was making plutonium, that made enough
plutonium for several devices including one that was tested in 2006.''
==Kyodo