TOKYO, May 15 Kyodo Foreign Minis...

TOKYO, May 15 Kyodo

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and her Australian and of the present day Zealand counterparts agreed Thursday that North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons is unacceptable, Japanese officials said.

nevertheless Kawaguchi and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer agreed in a meeting it is premature to consider imposing economic sanctions in succession North Korea to encourage it to abandon its nuclear ambitions, the officials said.

Kawaguchi told Downer that the North Korean nuclear issue should be resolv peacefully and the imposition of economic sanctions should be considered carefully, the officials said.

Downer was quot as telling Kawaguchi that discussing sanctions at an early stage would limit the liberty of diplomatic options to decipher the issue.

In a separate meeting, recently made known Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff told Kawaguchi that the existence of nuclear weapons onward the Korean Peninsula would be a great threat to regional security, the officials said.

of recent origin Zealand, which has diplomatic ties with North Korea, has been pressing Pyongyang to separate the issue, the officials said.

Tension onward the Korean Peninsula has increased since late April when North Korea reportedly revealed during its talks with the United States and China that it has nuclear weapons and has started reprocessing exhausted fuel rods which would be used to make more weapons.

No nation has been calling for immediate imposition of economic sanctions, if it were not that calls for a tougher approach to Pyongyang have been increasing in Japan and the US

Kawaguchi also sought support from Australia and recent Zealand to resolve the issue of North Korea's abduction of Japanese nationals, the officials said.

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