Allies 'to demand nuclear-free North Korea'

Japan, the United States and South Korea will demand that North Korea scrap all its nuclear facilities when diplomats next meet to try to resolve the year-old crisis over its moves to develop nuclear weapons, it was reported today.

The report by Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper suggested the three allies had no plans to restart a recently-suspended project to build a pair of nuclear reactors to generate badly-needed electricity for the impoverished communist state.