TOKYO, June 29 Kyodo - Defense Agency Director General Shigeru Ishiba and a visiting senior U.S. diplomat in charge of North Korean affairs reaffirmed Tuesday their countries' determination not to allow North Korea to possess nuclear weapons, an agency official said.

Ishiba and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly also reconfirmed the importance of continued coordination between Japan, South Korea and the United States in dealing with the North's nuclear ambitions.

In a meeting at the agency in Tokyo, the two also discussed their governments' efforts to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the bilateral relationship, the official said.

Kelly, who headed the U.S. delegation to the six-nation talks on the North Korean nuclear issue held last week in Beijing, emphasized to Ishiba the importance of cooperation between Tokyo and Washington in urging Pyongyang to give up all of its nuclear programs.

The assistant secretary noted that the stances of Japan and the United States are very close and added that South Korea is also playing a good role in the process, the official said.

He also said he was glad the three countries could clearly present their positions to North Korea during the third round of the multilateral meeting also involving China and Russia, the official said.

The official said Kelly was likely suggesting that Pyongyang took the time to listen to the views of Japan, South Korea and the United States.

While Kelly thanked Japan for its contributions to U.S.-led reconstruction operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, he and Ishiba agreed that more work is needed to put the two war-torn countries back on their feet, the official said.

Both welcomed Monday's transfer of sovereignty from the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority to the Iraqi people, which took place two days earlier than scheduled for security reasons.

Kelly praised Japan's humanitarian and reconstruction assistance activities in Iraq, saying its cooperation has been ''essential,'' according to the official.

The defense chief promised to have the Self-Defense Forces continue their activities in Iraq.

Since earlier this year, Ground Self-Defense Force troops have been providing clean water and medical aid and restoring infrastructure in the southeastern city of Samawah and its vicinity, while Air Self-Defense Force personnel based in Kuwait are airlifting relief supplies to Iraq. ==Kyodo