ID :
53547
Thu, 04/02/2009 - 22:30
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/53547
The shortlink copeid
Japan, U.S. confirm close cooperation on N. Korean rocket issue+
TOKYO, April 2 Kyodo - Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday confirmed that the two countries will closely cooperate on and respond calmly to a rocket launch North Korea is planning, the Defense Ministry said.
During the 15-minute phone conversation, Gates said Washington is ready to
publicly announce that the launch, whether it is a satellite or a ballistic
missile, would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions if Pyongyang goes
ahead with it, a ministry official said.
The secretary also said the United States has called on North Korea not to
provoke the international community and the region by working on the launch and
developing missiles and weapons of mass destruction.
Gates noted that the United States, Japan and South Korea are quietly
cooperating on the planned launch and should keep such close relations in the
future, the official said.
''I basically share the same view. I hope the two countries keep cooperating
calmly and closely on the matter,'' Hamada said in response, according to the
official. ''The (Japanese) government will deal with it with a sense of
crisis,'' the minister said.
Gates also said that on the bright side, the launch would serve as an
opportunity to improve the operation of the ballistic missile defense systems
the United States and Japan have built, the official said.
Japan has been building a ballistic missile shield modeled on the U.S. system.
If North Korea launches a rocket, Japan is expected to be tipped off about the
launch by the United States.
It is the first time they have talked to each other since Gates was retained as
defense secretary in the administration of President Barack Obama, according to
the ministry.
North Korea has announced that it will put a satellite into orbit between
Saturday and Wednesday. Japan, the United States and South Korea see it as a
cover to test a long-range ballistic missile because the technology involved is
the same.
They have urged Pyongyang not to go ahead with the launch because doing so
would violate the U.S. resolutions banning it from engaging in all ballistic
missile-related activities.
==Kyodo
During the 15-minute phone conversation, Gates said Washington is ready to
publicly announce that the launch, whether it is a satellite or a ballistic
missile, would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions if Pyongyang goes
ahead with it, a ministry official said.
The secretary also said the United States has called on North Korea not to
provoke the international community and the region by working on the launch and
developing missiles and weapons of mass destruction.
Gates noted that the United States, Japan and South Korea are quietly
cooperating on the planned launch and should keep such close relations in the
future, the official said.
''I basically share the same view. I hope the two countries keep cooperating
calmly and closely on the matter,'' Hamada said in response, according to the
official. ''The (Japanese) government will deal with it with a sense of
crisis,'' the minister said.
Gates also said that on the bright side, the launch would serve as an
opportunity to improve the operation of the ballistic missile defense systems
the United States and Japan have built, the official said.
Japan has been building a ballistic missile shield modeled on the U.S. system.
If North Korea launches a rocket, Japan is expected to be tipped off about the
launch by the United States.
It is the first time they have talked to each other since Gates was retained as
defense secretary in the administration of President Barack Obama, according to
the ministry.
North Korea has announced that it will put a satellite into orbit between
Saturday and Wednesday. Japan, the United States and South Korea see it as a
cover to test a long-range ballistic missile because the technology involved is
the same.
They have urged Pyongyang not to go ahead with the launch because doing so
would violate the U.S. resolutions banning it from engaging in all ballistic
missile-related activities.
==Kyodo
