Aso reiterates U.N. resolution needed in event of N. Korean launch+

LONDON, April 3 Kyodo - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao Thursday, reiterated that a U.N. Security Council resolution for new sanctions against or condemning North Korea is needed if Pyongyang carries out its planned rocket launch.

Hu responded that he is closely monitoring the North Korean situation and that
Beijing is talking with Pyongyang through various channels, a Japanese official
said.
''It is important to calmly address the issue so the situation will not be
aggravated,'' Hu was quoted as saying. ''China wants to keep in close touch
with Japan on this.''
Aso and Hu, who met after a just-ended global financial summit in London,
agreed Aso will visit China April 29-30, according to the official.
North Korea says that it plans to put an experimental communications satellite
into orbit between Saturday and Wednesday, notifying aviation and maritime
organizations in advance.
During the talks, Aso was quoted as telling Hu that North Korea's rocket launch
would constitute a violation of an existing U.N. Security Council resolution.
''If North Korea forcibly conducts a launch, it is vital to adopt a U.N.
Security Council resolution and get a strong message across,'' he was quoted as
saying.
The Chinese president made no mention of Beijing's stance on a proposed U.N.
Security Council resolution, according to the Japanese official.
Japan, the United States and South Korea suspect the planned launch is a cover
for the test-firing of a Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missile because the
technology involved in launching a satellite is the same.
The three countries have repeatedly warned that if North Korea goes ahead with
a launch, the issue may be taken up by the U.N. Security Council.
Earlier in the day, U.S. President Barack Obama told South Korean President Lee
Myung Bak that Washington is preparing a draft council sanctions resolution to
respond to a planned launch, a South Korean official told Kyodo News.
But China and Russia, both permanent veto-wielding Security Council members,
have apparently shown reluctance to agree to a new resolution if the launch
turns out to be for placing a satellite into orbit.
Aso asked for Beijing's continued help to resolve a bilateral spat between
Japan and North Korea over the latter's decades-old abductions of Japanese
nationals, the official said, adding Hu promised to continue cooperating with
Tokyo where deemed necessary.
Japan and North Korea have clashed over the issue of Pyongyang's abductions of
Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s and the long-standing dispute has
been an obstacle to normalizing ties.
Aso and Hu agreed to maintain the momentum for high-level dialogue between
their countries, including through the former's visit to China April 29-30, the
official said.
Aso called for Hu's leadership in moving forward speedily with a deal on joint
gas exploration in the disputed East China Sea, and Hu responded that Beijing's
stance on the issue remains unchanged since the deal was struck last June, the
official said.
Under the June deal, which marked a breakthrough toward solving the
longstanding dispute, the two neighbors agreed to jointly explore an area near
the Japan-claimed median line and to continue talks on two other gas fields.
Tokyo, which fears that China's continued exploration near the Kashi field,
west of the median line, might siphon resources from Japan's side, has
repeatedly lodged protests with Beijing as it believes China should stop its
activities until the negotiations are settled.
Aso also expressed hope for an early resolution of a case last year in which
Chinese-made frozen meat dumplings made some people in Japan sick, the official
said.
Hu replied that China will continue investigating the case and wants to
collaborate with Japan in trying to solve it, according to the official.
==Kyodo
2009-04-03 21:02:16