Yoshihide Suga (File photo)
Tokyo (People's Daily) - Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference on Wednesday that it is extremely important that North Korea shows concrete actions toward denuclearization for a meaningful dialogue. Japan, the US and South Korea will work with relevant countries, using all means, to increase pressure on Pyongyang to the utmost level until it abandons its nuclear and missile programs.
Katsuyuki Kawai, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's special diplomatic adviser in his ruling Liberal Democratic Party, quoted Abe as saying Japan will cooperate with other countries and monitor the situation surrounding North Korea, while raising pressure on the Asian country.
Kawai told reporters that Abe believed the recent mood for dialogue was a sign that sanctions against North Korea and strengthened monitoring of "ship-to-ship transfer" of goods involving North Korean vessels aimed at evading sanctions have been effective. North Korea must commit to complete, verifiable and irreversible abandonment of its nuclear and missile programs.
According to Kyodo News, in the light of North Korea's previous breaches of contract, the Japanese government expressed wariness about the pledges, vowing to keep pressuring North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile ambitions.
Japanese diplomats said Japan will become an "outsider" if the US promises unconditional dialogue with North Korea. Japanese government sources believe that "the situation on the Korean Peninsula is so unpredictable that we have to be well-prepared in all aspects with the idea that anything is likely to happen."
(Complied by Zhu Yingqi)
