The United States, Japan and South Korea have demanded that North Korea quickly dismantles its nuclear weapons programme.
In a joint statement on Saturday, U.S. President George W. Bush, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung said they reaffirmed their commitment for a peaceful Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons. .
It said the three leaders "agreed that North Korea's relations with the international community now rest on North Korea's prompt and visible actions to dismantle its program to produce highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons." .