Tokyo, Seoul, Washington on same page over Pyongyang nuclear arms, missile threats

September 30, 2015

Japan Times:

Japan, the United States and South Korea agreed Tuesday to work closely together to deal with issues related to North Korea, such as a possible test launch of what they suspect to be a ballistic missile, according to a Japanese official.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters he and his U.S and South Korean counterparts, John Kerry and Yun Byung-se, reaffirmed their commitment to dealing with a possible provocative act by Pyongyang, in a meeting held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

“We shared the recognition that any launch of a long-range ballistic missile would be a clear violation of past U.N. Security Council resolutions even if North Korea calls it a satellite,” Kishida said.

“We confirmed that we will strongly urge North Korea to refrain from any provocative acts and comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions” as well as an agreement of the six-nation talks on Pyongyang’s denuclearization, Kishida said.

The U.N. Security Council adopted resolutions in reaction to Pyongyang’s past nuclear tests and test-launches of ballistic missiles, prohibiting North Korea from conducting any launches using ballistic missile technology.

North Korea indicated earlier in September that it may launch a satellite on or around Oct. 10 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party.

“North Korea presents an ongoing security challenge to everybody,” Kerry said at the beginning of the trilateral meeting which was open to the press…

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