Japan, U.S. share goal of nuke-free world

Japan and the United States pledged Friday to strive for a world without nuclear weapons and vowed to call on states to curb the role atomic arms play in their security strategies.

The agreements were included in a joint statement issued after the Tokyo summit between Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama.

Japan, as the only state to have experienced atomic bombings, is committed to nuclear disarmament, while Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is seeking to create a world free of nuclear arms.

The declaration states Japan and the United States "welcome the renewed international attention and commitment to achieve the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons and confirm their determination to realize such a world."

They also called on states with nuclear weapons to respect the principles of "transparency, verifiability and irreversibility" in the process of nuclear disarmament.

Tokyo and Washington also agreed to commit themselves to achieve "the early entry into force" of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and the "immediate commencement of negotiations on and early conclusion of" the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty.

To boost peaceful use of atomic power, they vowed to also join with other countries to enhance a new framework for "civil nuclear cooperation," including "the cradle-to-grave nuclear fuel management," according to the declaration.

On regional nuclear threats, the two nations confirmed their commitment to "the irreversible and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

They agreed that the six-party talks on denuclearizing the North remain "the most effective framework" to contain Pyongyang's atomic threat, and they will urge the reclusive state to "return immediately" to the negotiating table "without precondition" for the talks, which also involve China, South Korea and Russia.

The two countries also promised to work closely for the success of the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit to be held in Washington next March, as well as the 2010 Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons Review Conference.