Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and his Australian counterpart, Stephen Smith, agreed Feb. 21 to work together on achieving nuclear disarmament but remained apart on the dispute over Japanese whaling in the Antarctic Ocean.

During a joint news conference following a meeting in the western city of Perth, Smith referred to the possibility of resorting to international legal action to stop the whaling. Okada expressed regret at Smith's remarks.

A joint statement on nuclear disarmament was announced following their talks, in which the two ministers agreed to cooperate toward the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty review conference in May.

As a first step toward a world without nuclear weapons, the pair also "found worthy of consideration" such ideas as banning the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states or retaining nuclear weapons solely for the purpose of deterring others from using such weapons.