20 September 2017

News Story: Japan, Russia agree to work on N. Korea at U.N. Security Council

NEW YORK (Kyodo) -- Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said he and Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov affirmed Monday in New York that Japan and Russia will work together, including at the U.N. Security Council, in addressing the threat from North Korea.

"The goal for both of us is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Kono told reporters after his roughly 30-minute meeting with Lavrov on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

"Japan and Russia are of the same understanding that (this includes) the enforcement of (U.N. Security Council) resolutions," Kono said.

The latest sanctions resolution, adopted in response to the North's Sept. 3 nuclear test, is the first to place a cap on North Korea's supply of oil and petroleum products. It also bans purchases of the country's textiles and calls on U.N. members to stop admitting North Korean laborers.

Kono said he appealed to Lavrov for Russia to use its influence on North Korea. The North has continued to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, firing a ballistic missile across Japan into the Pacific Ocean last week.

Read the full story at The Mainichi