"(Kim) clearly stated that the objective was denuclearisation," he was quoted by the Financial Times newspaper as telling a group of foreign news media before leaving for the Group of Eight (G8) summit in the United States.

"(Kim) further stated very clearly that freezing of the nuclear programme is to be accompanied by verification," Koizumi said, according to the Financial Times.

Koizumi met Kim for their second meeting in Pyongyang last month, and returned home with five children who had been left behind by two Japanese couples who were abducted by the North in the 1970s.

Koizumi in return promised millions of dollars in food and medical aid to the impoverished country.

The Financial Times reported that Koizumi said he urged Kim to seize the opportunity of giving up Pyongyang's nuclear drive in return for a security guarantee and economic aid.

Koizumi also said that he told Kim that North Korea could only gain from the dismantlement of its nuclear programme, reports said.

Koizumi was scheduled to meet with US President George W. Bush Tuesday for a working lunch on the sidelines of the G8 meeting.

They were expected to discuss the North Korean nuclear crisis and the fate of a US army deserter, who has refused to leave North Korea to join his wife in Japan.

WAR.WIRE