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The ministers, meeting in Kyoto, Japan, ahead of next month's summit of the industrialized nations in Hokkaido, also supported Japan's insistence that North Korea should settle the issue of kidnapped Japanese nationals which Tokyo says remains unresolved, Kyodo news service reported.

"We reached consensus that what is important is to conduct thorough verification so that this will lead us to the final goal of (North Korea's) abolition of its nuclear weapons and programs", Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said.

"I was impressed by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State (Christopher) Hill's remarks that this is not a game of trusting North Korea but a game of verification", the Japanese minister added.

Komura told reporters he also won support from other G8 members on the abduction issue which Japan also wants taken up as an international human rights issue.

The foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States renewed their commitment to the dual approach of pressure and dialogue for a positive response from Iran to halt its uranium enrichment, Komura said.

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