Progress in communication between North and South Korea on Saturday prompted concern in the Japanese government that Seoul may rush into dialogue with the North at the expense of the pressure campaign espoused by Japan and the United States. „South Korea might run off ahead on a course of dialogue,
Progress in communication between North and South Korea on Saturday prompted concern in the Japanese government that Seoul may rush into dialogue with the North at the expense of the pressure campaign espoused by Japan and the United States.
„South Korea might run off ahead on a course of dialogue,“ a senior Foreign Ministry official said in the wake of talks in Seoul between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and a high-level North Korean delegation sent to attend the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics the day prior.
The delegation gave Moon a letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inviting him to visit the North, a day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he and Moon had affirmed their shared stance of maximizing pressure on Pyongyang until it scraps its nuclear program.
Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters in Saga Prefecture that dialogue between the two Koreas must be „based on the premise that North Korea will change its basic nuclear and missile policies.“
Officials in Tokyo suspect North Korea is trying to chip away at the united front of the United States and its East Asian allies as international sanctions bite the hermit country.
