Bush 'concern' at N Korea issues

US President George W Bush has said he remains concerned about North Korea's alleged enrichment of uranium and other security issues.

But, speaking after talks with Japanese PM Yasuo Fukuda ahead of Monday's G8 summit in Japan, he acknowledged North Korea had addressed some concerns. Mr Fukuda said he would attend the Beijing Olympics opening, which other leaders will miss over rights concerns. The G8 summit is being held at a resort on the northern island of Hokkaido.

North Korea handed over a long-delayed list of its nuclear activities to Washington on 26 June, but it is not thought to have given details of uranium enrichment, which the North denies."North Korea did provide a declaration of its plutonium-related activities and did blow up the cooling tower of its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon," Mr Bush said at the summit venue in Tokayo. "That's been verified and is a positive step, but there are more steps to be taken. "We are concerned about enriched uranium and proliferation, human rights abuses and ballistic missile programmes."

Mr Bush also promised Mr Fukuda that he would "not abandon" the question of Japanese citizens allegedly abducted by North Korea to help train North Korean spies.Asked by reporters about the ailing US economy, the American leader said he was committed to a strong dollar.
"Our economy is not growing as robustly as we'd like..." he said. "The United States believes in a strong dollar policy and believes the strength of our economy will be reflected in the dollar."
The Group of Eight (G8) consists of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. Leaders began arriving on Sunday. Mr Bush arrived in time to celebrate his 62nd birthday in Japan.