Abe, Moon Agree to Seek Tougher UNSC Resolution against N. Korea

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed on Monday to seek a tougher U.N. Security Council resolution against North Korea, in the wake of the reclusive country's sixth nuclear test on Sunday. During telephone talks, Abe underscored the necessity that the international community will unite to add its maximum pressure on North Korea, including the adoption of a stronger Security Council resolution, according to Japanese officials. Moon vowed to work with the international community to take powerful countermeasures including a new Security Council resolution. The Abe-Moon talks came as the Japanese government was accelerating its efforts to impose tougher international sanctions against North Korea, especially eyeing an oil embargo. At a meeting of the government and the ruling parties on Monday, Abe warned of possible further provocations by North Korea. "We'll maintain increased vigilance and do all we can to ensure public safety," the prime minister said. Also on Monday, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had talks on the phone, agreeing to add utmost pressure on North Korea while sharing the view that the country is posing an unprecedentedly severe and imminent threat to international security. At a meeting at his ministry, Kono and Russian Ambassador to Japan Evgeny Afanasiev agreed to work together. Russia is a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council. Kono also held talks with ambassadors from nine nonpermanent Security Council member countries, including Ethiopia, which chairs the council this month. They basically agreed that a new Security Council resolution should convey a clear and strong message to Pyongyang. When Japan was seeking to include an oil embargo against North Korea in a Security Council resolution adopted last month, China opposed it, while Russia was cautious. The Japanese government now believes the situation over North Korea has come to a "different phase," with Russia and China having strongly denounced Sunday's hydrogen bomb test by the North, according to a government source. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, at a press conference on Monday, welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump's tweeting that his administration is considering stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea. The president showed "his understanding of the need for the strongest ever pressure" on the isolated country, the top Japanese government spokesman said. In response to U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis' statement mentioning "many military options," Suga said Japan highly appreciates the United States' position of keeping all options on the table, while noting that the strong deterrence power of the Japan-U.S. alliance is crucial. END