Japan PM Abe: World must press North Korea on nukes

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe listens during the 20th ASEAN Japan Summit in Manila, Philippines, Monday Nov. 13, 2017. (Athit Perawongmetha/Pool Photo via AP)

The international community must “pressure” North Korea to get into a dialogue and abandon its nuclear and missile programs, according to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

At a press conference on Tuesday night, Abe said that at the East Asia Summit (EAS), “the leaders shared an unprecedented sense of crisis” over North Korea’s belligerence.

Unity

“The international society should have unity to fully implement the UNSC (United Nations Security Council) resolutions and ramp up pressure to the maximum level,” Abe said.

“We have to create a situation in which North Korea comes to us asking for a dialogue in exchange for changing their policies,” he stressed.

He said that at the East Asia Summit and bilateral meetings, he “made a strong case” to maximize pressure on North Korea.

Abe pressed for meaningful and proactive talks among nations to resolve the tensions caused by North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests.

“With North Korea, we should not have dialogue for the sake of dialogue…There has to be the commitment of North Korea abandoning the nuclear and missile programs in a full verifiable and irreversible method. We have to make them commit to that,” Abe said.

North Korea has launched a number of missiles over Japan, the last on Sept. 15 and it passed over the northern part of  Hokkaido Island.

Frank talks

Abe said that in “frank talks” he had with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, “we agreed that we will be closely watching and see the effect of sanctions on North Korea.”

Abe told reporters that Japan and the United States would “hand in hand play a leading role” in advancing peace, security, and prosperity in the region.