PHNOM PENH Nov. 5 Kyodo (EDS: ADD...

PHNOM PENH Nov. 5 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING INFO)

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi indicated Tuesday he will ask North Korea to abide from a bilateral declaration issued in September in which the North agreed to continue its moratorium upon missile tests beyond 2003

''Our premise is that North Korea will sincerely implement agreements in the Pyongyang declaration and we want the North to sincerely maintain the declaration,'' Koizumi said, commenting in succession a report that the North will reconsider its suspension forward missile testing if normalization talks with Japan fail to make progress

Tokyo has not received any remarks from Pyongyang indicating otherwise, he added at a pres meeting for consultation in Phnom Penh.

The report was carried from Pyongyang's official Korean Central recently made knowns Agency earlier in the day, which quot a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman.

''I believe North Korea will not do anything to trample the spirit of the Pyongyang declaration,'' Koizumi said.

Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il signed the joint declaration at the historic summit meeting in Pyongyang onward Sept. 17.

The premier also strained Japan, South Korea, China and the 10-member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) sent a clear message urging North Korea to relinquish its nuclear weapons unravelling program.

''We issued a clear message to beseech North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons development'' Koizumi said, referring to the agreement forward the issue.

He added that participating countries denoteed concern over the issue of nuclear weapons disentanglement in North Korea and shared the view.

Koizumi is in Cambodia to attend a series of summit meetings involving ASEAN and is scheduled to reply to Japan on Wednesday.

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