 |
| Prime Minister Shinzo Abe |
LONDON/TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Saturday that talks with North Korea over its nuclear program cannot be resumed as long as it continues to carry out provocative acts, after the country's latest test-firing of a ballistic missile.
"In light of the current situation, in which North Korea repeats provocative acts and displays no sincere will or specific action toward denuclearization, we cannot immediately restart the six-party talks at this time," Abe said at a press conference in London following talks on Friday with British counterpart Theresa May.
The premier condemned the latest missile launch as "intolerable" and said Japan must instead coordinate with the United States, South Korea, China and Russia -- the participants in the talks on ending North Korea's nuclear development program that were effectively suspended in 2009 -- to address a threat from North Korea.
"Dialogue for the sake of dialogue will not lead to any solution," Abe said.
According to the South Korean military, North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile early Saturday from a region north of its capital Pyongyang, but the test apparently failed.
"The international community must unite to increase pressure on North Korea, such as through the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions," he said.
Read the full story at The Mainichi