The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Washington

President Bush on Friday claimed "measurable results" from six-nation talks to persuade North Korea to dismantle its nuclear-weapons operations, but said more must be done to reach the goal of a nuclear-free Korean peninsula. He praised Japan's role in the process and said the U.S. was sensitive to the importance Tokyo places on also resolving the issue of Japanese kidnapped in North Korea. Japan's new prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, standing besides Bush in the Grand Foyer of the White House, pledged to do his "level best" to get the Japanese parliament to restore naval refueling operations in the Indian Ocean that have been suspended. Bush issued a strong appeal for their resumption, saying they were vital to the war in Afghanistan. The two leaders vowed to cooperate on these and other issues that have strained relations in the past months between the world's two largest economies. It was Fukuda's first visit to Washington since he became prime minister in September. High on their agenda was North Korea, and efforts to get the communist regime to live up to its promise to abandon its nuclear ambitions. "The six-party talks have delivered measurable results," Bush said. He said the plutonium-production facilities at Yongbyon, North Korea's main nuclear complex, "are now being disabled under six-party supervision."