By DPA
Heiligendamm : The US and Japan called on the Group of Eight (G8) leaders to send a "convincing message" to North Korea to shut down its nuclear weapons programme.
During a meeting ahead of the start of the G8 summit Wednesday in the historic German resort of Heiligendamm, US President George W Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed that "patience is not unlimited," a Japanese official said.
Abe also criticized Pyongyang, saying the "lack of a sincere response on the part of North Korea" to the questions of nuclear disarmament and abducted Japanese nationals was "extremely regrettable."
Both the Japanese and the US leaders agreed that the G8 summit's final document should call on North Korea to start moves towards nuclear disarmament as agreed to at the six-party talks in February.
The agreed deadline for closing down North Korea's reactor in Yongbyon got over in April, after the US declined to transfer 25-million US dollars from frozen North Korean accounts in Macau.
The US Treasury Department believes the money in the North Korean accounts was derived from money laundering or even counterfeiting.
As a result of US financial sanctions, no international bank is willing to handle the money for fear of being shut out of the US money markets.
Washington refers to unspecified "technical problems" that hold up the transfer.
Nevertheless, both the US and North Korea have indicated that they believe the issue can be resolved.
The regime in Pyongyang only last week restated its willingness to fulfil its commitment under the agreement from February 13, as soon as the 25 million dollars have been transferred.
Negotiations with North Korea over dismantling it's nuclear weapons programme through the five-party talks, was temporarily disrupted after Pyongyang tested a nuclear device in October last year.