Kyodo news summary -6-

---------- Defense Minister Kyuma quits over A-bomb remarks

TOKYO - Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma resigned Tuesday over his controversial remarks which were taken as justifying the atomic bombing of Japan by the United States in World War II, dealing another blow to already embattled Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the run-up to the July 29 House of Councillors election.

After accepting Kyuma's resignation, Abe immediately named his special security adviser Yuriko Koike to replace Kyuma, a quick move apparently aimed at maintaining the prime minister's grip on power and minimizing any adverse impact on the election.

---------- Kyuma insists his comments were misrepresented by media

TOKYO - Outgoing Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma insisted Tuesday his controversial comments concerning the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki were misrepresented by the media, while admitting he used some words carelessly and ended up hurting atomic-bomb survivors.

At a press conference hastily arranged after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe accepted his resignation, Kyuma expressed no regrets about leaving the Cabinet, saying he has a ''sense of accomplishment'' in terms of what was achievable during his nine-plus months as minister.

---------- Ruling camp worries minister's resignation will hurt election

TOKYO - As the sudden resignation of Japan's defense minister Tuesday forced the premier to immediately name a successor, ruling lawmakers voiced concerns over possible adverse impact on the governing coalition in the July 29 House of Councillors election.

''There is no doubt this will be negative for the administration,'' former Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, head of the Liberal Democratic Party faction to which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe belongs, said of the resignation of Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma.

---------- N. Korea's Kim says all parties must implement denuke deal

BEIJING - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Tuesday all six countries involved in nuclear talks over North Korea should carry out their obligations under an agreement to denuclearize the country, China's state-run media reported.

The measures mentioned in comments by Kim, carried by the Xinhua News Agency, cover not only North Korea's task of shutting down and sealing its key nuclear facility in Yongbyon but also a promise to start providing the energy-starved country with 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil.

---------- China, N. Korea ministers agree to implement denuclearization deal

BEIJING - Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his North Korean counterpart Pak Ui Chun agreed Tuesday to work together to implement a six-party deal on denuclearization steps for North Korea, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Yang, who is on a three-day visit to Pyongyang from Monday, later met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and conveyed to him a message from Chinese President Hu Jintao, North Korea's state media reported.

---------- ITER-related research launched in Rokkasho, Aomori Pref.

AOMORI, Japan - A facility to conduct research related to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor started operations Tuesday in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture.

Researchers from the International Fusion Energy Research Center, which has opened a temporary office in the village, will carry out basic research and prepare for the 2009 opening of a new center currently under construction.

---------- 1 trooper killed, several students injured in gunfire in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD - A Pakistani paramilitary trooper was shot dead and several female students injured in a firefight between security forces and religious students at a mosque in the Pakistani capital on Tuesday, officials and witnesses said.

The incident occurred at Red Mosque where more than 3,000 female Muslim students from an adjoining religious school have holed themselves up since January this year, demanding the government enforce strict Islamic law.

---------- China says media exaggerating food safety problem

BEIJING - China's food safety problems are partly a result of misunderstandings brought about by exaggerations in media reports, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

Qin Gang's comments at a regular press conference come as some countries have warned its citizens about tainted toothpaste and pet food originating from China.

---------- Cardinal Zen decries mixed messages in pope's letter to China

HONG KONG - Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, a staunch critic of Beijing, issued a statement Tuesday pointing out discrepancies between the content of a weekend letter from Pope Benedict XVI to Chinese Catholics and explanatory notes thereof.

''In the explanatory notes, which do not constitute part of the pope's letter and which bear no signature of the author, some expression is found which is at considerable variance from what is said in the pope's letter and is very inappropriate,'' Zen said.