Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono called Thursday for all countries that maintain diplomatic and economic ties with North Korea to sever them in a unified response to Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. « Now is the time for the international community as a whole to maximize the…
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono called Thursday for all countries that maintain diplomatic and economic ties with North Korea to sever them in a unified response to Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
« Now is the time for the international community as a whole to maximize the pressure on North Korea to take concrete actions toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, » Kono said in a speech to students at Columbia University in New York after several days of meetings during the U. N. General Assembly’s general debate week.
« Can you believe that over 160 countries have diplomatic ties with North Korea, the biggest threat to the world right now? » he asked during the speech, a few hours after discussing the North Korea issue in a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
He said too many countries also maintain economic ties with the North, including by accepting its migrant workers, a target of the latest U. N. Security Council sanctions resolution adopted in response to the Sept. 3 nuclear test.
« We must work together with countries in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa to get rid of the ‘loopholes’ in the sanctions, » Kono said.
Calling the North Korea threat the international community’s « foremost challenge, » Kono said Japan will « actively engage with countries like China and Russia even though we are not always on the same page.
