Japan PM more N Korea sanctions may be needed

CAIRO, May 2 (Reuters) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said today that more sanctions against North Korea may be needed if Pyongyang does not soon meet its initial obligations under a six-nation disarmament pact.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today, two weeks after the North missed a deadline for shutting down its main nuclear reactor, that the United States and Japan do not have endless patience with North Korea.

''If North Korea doesn't carry out what it has promised, the situation that they are in -- economically, food-wise -- will not improve, and they have to understand that if anything, things will get worse,'' Abe told a news conference in Cairo, where he had talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

''North Korea still hasn't done what it should for the initial steps. So keeping this in mind, depending on the circumstances, we may have to think of additional measures.'' Rice, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Japanese Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma met in Washington today after the US and Japanese leaders said last week that North Korea could face tougher steps such as sanctions if it did not begin implementing the pact.

US President George W Bush and Abe on Friday expressed concern that North Korea missed an April 14 deadline to start shutting its Soviet-era nuclear reactor, the source of plutonium for its bombs.

The deadline was required by a deal North Korea reached on Feb 13 with South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States under which Pyongyang would get energy and economic aid in exchange for nuclear disarmament.

That deal is languishing amid arguments over the return of 25 million dollars in North Korean money once frozen in a Macau bank account in connection with counterfeiting and money-laundering allegations.

North Korea said last month it remains committed to the pact and will act once it gets the money. The freeze on the funds has been lifted but North Korea has not drawn on the money.

Some Japanese officials have expressed concern that Washington was softening its stance toward Pyongyang.

US support for the February deal marked a shift for Bush, who labelled North Korea part of an ''axis of evil'' in 2002, but Japan will not give aid to North Korea until the issue of Japanese nationals kidnapped by Pyongyang is resolved.

Abe denied Tokyo and Washington were in danger of falling out of step, reiterating that he and Bush are on the same page.

''We've learned that both dialogue and pressure are needed with North Korea, and the president and I are in total agreement on this,'' Abe said.

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