Reassuring her hosts that the US-Japanese alliance remained the cornerstone of regional security, Clinton also handed Prime Minister Taro Aso an invitation to visit the White House next week -- before other foreign leaders.

Aso accepted, officials said.

On the first full day of her Asian tour, Clinton said the United States would press North Korea to come clean on its weapons-grade nuclear programme and on abducted Japanese citizens.

"Let me underscore the commitment the United States has to the denuclearisation of North Korea and to the prevention of further proliferation," she told a news conference with Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone.

Under a 2007 deal with the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia, North Korea agreed to end its nuclear programmes in exchange for energy aid.

But progress in the six-party talks stalled late last year when North Korea, which tested an atomic bomb in 2006, baulked at demands for inspections and other steps to verify disarmament.

A senior State Department official, summarising Clinton's meeting with Nakasone, said "the North's nuclear ambitions are disruptive to peace and there's a full commitment to the alliance under President (Barack) Obama".

The US official, who asked not to be named, said Clinton told her Japanese counterpart that a missile launch would be "provocative" under certain circumstances.

Nakasone replied that the allies neeedd to respond "strictly" to intimidation from the North, the US official said.

In public, Clinton has only that such a launch "would be very unhelpful in moving our relationship forward".

The isolated Stalinist country on Monday fuelled speculation that it is preparing to test a long-range missile, signalling that it will go ahead with a rocket launch as part of a "space development" programme.

Pyongyang has previously tested missiles under the guise of launching a satellite.

In her press conference with Nakasone, Clinton renewed her earlier offer of normal relations and a full peace treaty if North Korea "verifiably and completely eliminates its nuclear programme".

The 1950-1953 Korean conflict ended only with an armistice.

Touching on one of the most emotive issues for Japan, Clinton said she would press Pyongyang to account for the fate of Japanese citizens kidnapped to train North Korean spies in language skills.

She met some of their relatives in a bid to show how seriously she takes the issue.

She was given a letter from the families who urged the Obama administration to "seriously consider re-listing North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism" as it reviews policy toward Pyongyang.

Japan has refused to provide aid to North Korea under the denuclearisation deal until it provides answers about the abductions.

Clinton also said Obama would meet Prime Minister Aso in Washington on February 24.

Aso told Clinton, according to Jiji Press, that "the two countries have a big responsibility over the international economy and global finance. I would like to discuss that."

Nakasone, speaking on the economic crisis at the joint press conference, said the Aso-Obama meeting "is a great chance for the world's biggest and second biggest economies to jointly tackle the issue".

Clinton also held talks with Ichiro Ozawa, head of the nation's biggest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, who is leading opinion polls against Aso ahead of this year's general elections.

Ozawa later told reporters the two agreed on the importance of the current US-Japan bilateral alliance but he insisted that Tokyo and Washington must seek "equal partnership" without either side acting unilaterally.

Ozawa, at the media briefing, also mentioned uncertainty about China and said: "Whether China can manage a soft landing on democratisation is the biggest issue for the world, Japan and the United States."

"Secretary Clinton ... told us that it's a very important insight. The triangle of the United States, Japan and China is a very important relation," Ozawa said.

Analysts said Clinton chose to visit Japan first -- before Indonesia, South Korea and China -- to ease Japanese concerns that the United States now saw China as the key power in Asia.

earlier related report
Clinton says US committed to ridding NKorea of nukes
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday the United States is committed to ridding North Korea of nuclear weapons and warned against any missile launch by Pyongyang.

At the formal start of her Asia tour in Japan, Clinton renewed a US offer for normal ties and a peace treaty with North Korea if it verifiably and completely eliminates its nuclear weapons programme.

"Let me underscore the commitment the United States has to the denuclearisation of North Korea and to the prevention of further proliferation," she told a news conference.

"This is a matter of great concern. We discussed it at great length today," she said after talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone.

Under a landmark deal in 2007 with the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia, North Korea agreed to end its weapons-grade nuclear programme in exchange for energy aid.

But progress in the six-party talks stalled late last year when North Korea, which tested an atomic bomb in 2006, baulked at demands for inspections and other steps to verify disarmament.

"If North Korea abides by the obligations it has already entered into and verifiably and completely eliminates its nuclear programme, then there will be a reciprocal response," she said.

As laid out in the six-nation deal, the United States would offer "a chance to normalise relations," Clinton said, as well as a full peace treaty with the North, which has often said it needs nuclear weapons to deter a US attack.

The 1950-1953 Korean conflict ended only with an armistice.

Touching on one of the most emotive issues for Japan, Clinton said she would press Pyongyang to account for the fate of Japanese citizens kidnapped to train North Korean spies in language skills, adding she would meet with their families later Tuesday.

Japan has refused to provide aid to North Korea under the denuclearisation deal until it provides answers about the abductions. It expressed concern at Washington's decision last October to remove Pyongyang from a terrorism blacklist before the kidnap issue is resolved.

Japan says it has confirmed the abduction of 17 of its citizens by Pyongyang in the 1970s and 1980s.

The North in 2002 admitted to 13 abductions, allowing five of them to return to Japan and saying the others had died.

Speaking at the press conference, Nakasone said Japan believed the new US administration of President Barack Obama would not change its North Korea policy "in any serious way."

Clinton meanwhile warned that a missile launch North Korea has hinted it is planning "would be very unhelpful in moving our relationship forward."

The isolated Stalinist country on Monday fuelled speculation that it is preparing to test a long-range missile, signalling that it will go ahead with a rocket launch as part of a "space development" programme.

Pyongyang has previously tested missiles under the guise of launching a satellite. Analysts said the latest comments indicated North Korea was on the verge of a launch.

Clinton said "the possible missile launch that North Korea is talking about would be very unhelpful in moving our relationship forward."

earlier related report
SKorean envoys leave for six-party meeting in Moscow
South Korean delegates left Tuesday for a meeting with North Korea and four other nations on regional security despite a deadlock in broader six-nation nuclear disarmament talks.

The meeting Thursday and Friday in Moscow on peace and security in Northeast Asia will see the first government-level contact between North Korea and the United States since President Barack Obama's inauguration.

The talks group the two Koreas, the United States, Russia, China and Japan. Their last full meeting in December ended in stalemate because of disagreements over how the North's declaration of its nuclear activities should be verified.

Russia chairs a working group on security. Four other working groups deal with energy aid for the North, denuclearising the Korean peninsula, normalising North Korea-US relations and normalising North Korea-Japan ties.

"The working group meeting is significant in that it could provide momentum to the stalled denuclearisation process, although it is unlikely to produce an immediate tangible outcome," Hur Chul, head of the South Korean delegation, told Yonhap news agency.

The Moscow meeting will coincide with a trip by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Seoul amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The North has cancelled all peace accords with the South because of what it calls the Seoul government's confrontational stance.

On Monday it signalled it would fire a rocket as part of what it termed a space programme, in what analysts say is a pretext for testing a long-range missile.

Pyongyang is sending Jung Tae-Yang, vice director-general of the foreign ministry's American bureau, to Moscow. The US will be represented by Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Alexander A. Arvizu.

Two previous meetings have been held on a security mechanism but little progress was made.

A six-nation deal signed in February 2007 offers the North energy aid, normalised ties with Washington and Tokyo and a permanent peace pact if it dismantles its atomic plants and hands over all nuclear weapons and material.

Clinton has reiterated the offer of normalised ties in return for nuclear disarmament.

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