The conservative prime minister said Japan understood that the US decision to take North Korea off its list of state sponsors of terrorism was a means to move forward stalled six-nation disarmament talks.

"But we have made it clear that we are not content with the delisting," Aso told a parliamentary committee.

Japan has insisted that North Korea must do more to reveal the fate of Japanese civilians the communist regime kidnapped in the 1970s and 1980s to train its spies.

The six-nation talks -- involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia -- are expected soon to put in writing procedures to verify Pyongyang's denuclearisation.

"If this sort of progress is made, they (North Korea) would demand energy and economic assistance," Aso said. "As long as there is no progress on the abduction issue, however, we will not respond to this kind of demand."

Japan, Asia's largest economy, has faced pressure to help meet promises under the six-nation talks to send Pyongyang one million tons of badly needed fuel oil or equivalent aid in return for disarmament.

About half of the aid has already been delivered.

"There are high expectations for our economic assistance or contribution to the (remaining) 500,000 tons of heavy fuel oil but we will not comply with expectations," Aso said.

Japan's main opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa, who hopes to become prime minister in upcoming elections, was even harsher in his criticism of the US decision.

"The Japan-US alliance isn't really an alliance as Japan's role isn't reflected in it," Ozawa told reporters, renewing his call for an "equal partnership" with Washington.

Ozawa, whose party opposed the Iraq invasion, accused US President George W. Bush of double standards.

"What the Bush administration is doing is illogical. In Iraq, the US invaded on the grounds of weapons of mass destruction even though Saddam Hussein denied having them, whereas North Korea says that it has nuclear weapons," Ozawa said.

The abduction row stirs deep emotions in Japan.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il admitted to the kidnapping of Japanese citizens in 2002 and allowed five victims to return home. His insistence that eight other victims were dead was met with scepticism in Japan.

Japanese media said diplomats were especially upset about the US delisting as they only found out hours in advance, when the US embassy asked them to arrange a telephone call between Aso and US President George W. Bush.

Bush has also come under fire from US conservatives who accuse him of giving too much to North Korea -- once part of his "axis of evil" -- in hopes of securing a foreign policy triumph before leaving office.

Hiroyuki Hosoda, secretary general of Aso's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, also said Japan will stay with its tough policy on North Korea.

Japan last week renewed sweeping sanctions that block all imports from impoverished North Korea.

"I don't think the Japanese public sentiment is yet so generous for sanctions to be lifted now," Hosoda told reporters. "The government will continue taking a stern position against North Korea."

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.