US President George W Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed strategy on Friday to press the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to fulfill its pledge to begin abandoning nuclear weapons.

The meeting at this isolated presidential retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains took place as some of Abe's fellow conservatives in Japan question what is seen as a softening of Bush's tactics against the DPRK. In February, the DPRK pledged to drop its nuclear weapons program.

Abe's first trip to the United States as prime minister began on Thursday, highlighted by dinner at the White House.

Bush and his wife, Laura, walked across Pennsylvania Avenue to call on Abe and his wife, Akie, at Blair House, the guest residence for foreign leaders.

They strolled, four abreast, up the White House driveway for an informal dinner in the president's private residence. "Nice day for a walk," the president said, although a cloudy sky threatened rain.

The US and Japanese governments publicly agree on the direction of disarmament talks.

But some Japanese observers have criticized recent US decisions to engage Pyongyang in bilateral discussions and to allow the return of $25 million in disputed DPRK's money in an attempt to move the disarmament process forward.

On Thursday, Abe spoke with US lawmakers about an issue that has sparked anger among US conservatives and liberals alike: a comment the prime minister made in March that seemed to minimize Japan's role in forcing thousands of Asian women into sexual slavery during World War II.

Congress is considering a nonbinding resolution that urges Japan to apologize formally for the wartime "comfort women" policy. People across Asia and the United States were infuriated at Abe's suggestion that no proof exists that the military had coerced women into brothels.

Source: China Daily/agencies