Bush to meet with Asia leaders on G8 sidelines

By Tabassum Zakaria

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush will meet with leaders of Japan, China and South Korea on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit next week to discuss efforts to force North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program, the White House said on Tuesday.

In his fourth visit to Japan since he took office, Bush will have an hour-long meeting with host Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda after arriving in Hokkaido on July 6, the eve of the summit.

They will discuss North Korea and how to move forward on six-way talks aimed at ensuring Pyongyang abandons its nuclear weapons, said Dennis Wilder, senior director for Asian affairs at the White House National Security Council.

North Korea handed over a long-delayed list of its nuclear activities last week, leading the United States to say it would start the process of removing it from a terrorism-sponsor list.

That declaration was required under a disarmament-for-aid deal. But the document mostly outlined Pyongyang's program to produce arms-grade plutonium and experts said questions remained over North Korea's uranium enrichment and proliferation.

North Korea denies U.S. accusations of proliferating nuclear technology and having a secret program to enrich uranium for weapons.

Bush will make a statement on his trip to Japan for the G8 summit at 10:30 a.m. (1430 GMT) on Wednesday, the White House said. The members of the G-8 include the United States, Britain, Russia, Japan, Germany, Canada, France and Italy.

Japan also has sought a pledge by North Korea to reopen an investigation into the abduction of Japanese citizens by Pyongyang's agents decades ago to help train spies.

Bush "will reassure the Japanese people that he will never forget the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea, and that we will continue to cooperate closely with Japan to obtain a swift resolution to the abduction issue," Wilder said.

The United States is also realigning its forces in Japan, planning to move some 8,000 Marines and a similar number of dependents from the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to Guam by 2014.

On the summit's last day, July 9, Bush will again discuss North Korea in separate meetings with the leaders of South Korea and China, Wilder said.

Bush plans to visit South Korea August 5-6 during a trip in which he will go to China for the Olympics. There have been violent protests in Seoul over a U.S.-South Korean beef deal.

Bush also wants to hear from Chinese President Hu Jintao about talks between Beijing and representatives of the Dalai Lama, Wilder said.

China and envoys of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader have resumed fence-mending talks after rioting erupted in Tibet in March and ahead of the Olympics in August.

"As always, the president will remind China's leader of the importance the United States places on human rights and religious freedom," Wilder said.