US President George W. Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi talked about Iraq, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), economy, and other issues during their 75-minute luncheon meeting on Tuesday, a senior US administration official said.

Koizumi pledged that Japan will do "its part to the utmost" to assist with the reconstruction of Iraq, and that Japan was preparing to continue deployment of its Self-Defense Forces in theMiddle East country, based on the new UN resolution on Iraq and a decision to be made in Tokyo sometime next week, the official said.

Koizumi briefed Bush on his trip to Pyongyang on May 22. The two leaders agreed that the six-party talks are the right process on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, and that in that context, it was "absolutely essential" to make sure that the DPRK make a commitment to all of the six parties, or all of the other five parties, he said.

Koizumi also talked about the issue of Japanese abductees, the official said.

Koizumi described the situation of Ms. Soga, a former abductee now in Japan, whose husband, Sergeant Jenkins, was allegedly defected to the DPRK in 1965, while Bush explained the legal situation, he said.

Jenkins deserted from the US Army in 1965 and is still technically in the US Army and wanted on four different charges, according to the official.They talked about the economy, US military presence in Japan, and reform of the United Nations, and agreed to work together on UN reform and on the importance of Japan's permanent membership inthe Security Council as a goal, he said.

Koizumi arrived in Sea Island Tuesday morning in the southeastern US state of Georgia for a three-day Group of Eight summit that begins on Tuesday evening.

Source: Xinhua