World has yet to see if US-North Korea dialogue proves fruitful - Japanese top diplomat

TOKYO, July 30. /TASS/. Tokyo believes that the global community has yet to see if dialogue between North Korea and the US leads to specific results, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told TASS in an interview. "First of all we need to see if there is a possibility that the current talks with Washington will prompt North Korea to take specific actions," said Taro Kono, who has headed to Russia on Monday to take part in a two-plus-two meeting between the two countries’ foreign and defense ministers. According to him, after that, there is a need to consider further measures concerning North Korea, "to ensure the maximum possible efficiency, including the very dialogue with North Korea." Taro Kono pointed out that the ultimate target is to advance "the process aimed at finding a comprehensive solution to the North Korean missile and nuclear issue, as well as to the issue of abducted Japanese citizens." The Japanese foreign minister also said that Tokyo "will continue bilateral cooperation with the US and trilateral interaction with the US and South Korea, and will also continue to maintain close ties with the global community, including Russia, in order to call on North Korea to take specific actions to ensure denuclearization." Since the beginning of the year, the situation on the Korean Peninsula has been less tense as Pyongyang decided to suspend missile and nuclear tests. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has held bilateral meetings with Presidents Xi Jinping of China, Moon Jae-in of South Korea and Donald Trump of the United States, as well as with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Read more