Aso, Rice to put missile shield on fast-track status

HANOI (Kyodo) Foreign Minister Taro Aso told reporters Thursday the he and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice agreed to speed up their ballistic missile defense quest to secure regional security.

During their meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Hanoi, the two also agreed it is important to see concrete achievements at the six-party talks on denuclearizing North Korea that are expected to resume next month, Aso said.

Aso and Rice confirmed that five nations involved in the multilateral talks -- China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States -- need to maintain their solidarity to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear arms program, he said.

"I also made clear that Japan will not respond to any negotiations to provide support to North Korea unless the issue of abductions of Japanese nationals is resolved," Aso said.