TOKYO - JAPAN'S new Prime Minister Taro Aso said on Monday he would seek friendly relations with China and South Korea, while pressing North Korea on its nuclear drive and past abductions.

In a first policy speech to parliament, Mr Aso said he wants to 'jointly build peace and prosperity in the region by working together with China, South Korea, Russia and other Asia-Pacific nations'.

Chinese and South Korean leaders congratulated the outspoken conservative on his election last week by the ruling party, largely ignoring his past remarks over the country's wartime colonialism.

In the speech, Mr Aso said his government will seek 'action by the North Korean side in an effort to comprehensively resolve the issues of nuclear weapons, missiles and abductions'.

Tokyo has taken the hardest line against Pyongyang in stalled six-way talks aimed at ridding the communist state of nuclear weapons.

Japan has pressed North Korea for a fuller accounting on the fate of Japanese civilians the regime kidnapped in the 1970s and 1980s to train its spies in Japanese language and culture.

Former prime minister Yasuo Fukuda, regarded as a moderate on North Korea, controversially agreed in June to relax some Japanese sanctions after Pyongyang said it would start a new probe into the fate of the abductees.

But North Korea told Japan through diplomatic channels that it was holding off on launching the investigation after Mr Fukuda abruptly announced his resignation. -- AFP