Aso hints at making concession over U.N. resolution on N. Korea+

TOKYO, April 10 Kyodo - Prime Minister Taro Aso suggested Friday that Japan may make concessions and not insist on the adoption of a U.N. Security Council resolution in response to North Korea's recent rocket launch.

Aso's remarks came at a time when Japan is making diplomatic efforts to get the
UNSC to adopt a binding resolution in response to the launch, which Japan has
determined was related to a missile project and prompted Tokyo to formally
decide Friday to impose additional sanctions on Pyongyang.
While noting that the adoption of a resolution is ''desirable,'' Aso told a
press conference, ''There would be no point if we stick to a resolution that
ends up being nonsensical.''
''There are statements, resolutions and other things, but it is most important
for us to send an appropriate message of the global community'' to North Korea,
Aso said, stressing the need to protect the peace and security of Northeast
Asia.
Earlier in the day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told a press
conference, ''As there was no such object as a satellite despite North Korea's
announcement, the Japanese government has determined it was related to a
ballistic missile project.''
The government does not believe a communications satellite was put into orbit
as North Korea claims, because it has detected no radio waves such a satellite
would be expected to transmit, Kawamura said. ''It is clear that this launch
violates U.N. Security Council Resolution 1695 and Resolution 1718'' banning
North Korea from any ballistic missile activity.
He added the government also took into account resolutions adopted by
parliament condemning the missile launch.
The Japanese government initially called the rocket a missile-related projectile.
Though the Defense Ministry is still conducting an analysis of the rocket,
there is no doubt the rocket was launched using technology compatible with a
ballistic missile, Kawamura said.
''We have not seen a sincere response from North Korea in dealing with any of
the nuclear and missile problems as well as the abductions,'' he said.
The additional sanctions, meanwhile, include tighter rules on fund transfers to
North Korea, and extend ongoing Japanese sanctions due to expire Monday for one
year.
The new sanctions are ''aimed at shedding light on the flow of funds (to North
Korea), and that will help make clear Japan's position (against the country),''
Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said separately after a morning Cabinet
meeting.
''Also given the stalled talks on the issue of the abductions (of Japanese
nationals by Pyongyang), I believe our action is appropriate,'' he said.
While North Korea has not opened a reinvestigation of the abduction cases
despite its promise last August to do so, Kawamura said Japan would be willing
to consider lifting the sanctions should North Korea move to make efforts
toward resolving the abduction issue.
Japan imposed sanctions on North Korea, including a ban on port calls by the
Mangyongbong-92 ferry, after Pyongyang test-fired ballistic missiles in July
2006. Tokyo placed a ban on imports from the country after the North Korean
nuclear test in October that year.
The sanctions have since been extended every six months.
The new sanctions reduce the amount of remittance to North Korea subject to
reporting to the Japanese government from more than 30 million yen to more than
10 million yen and lower the amount of money subject to reporting by travelers
to North Korea from more than 1 million to more than 300,000 yen.
The government also decided at the Cabinet meeting to double the extension
period of the current sanctions, including a ban on port calls by North
Korean-registered vessels, from six months to one year.
But the government has given up on its plan to include a total ban on exports
to North Korea as the effectiveness of such a ban would be limited given that
the value of exports to North Korea stands at around several hundred million
yen each year.
Friday's announcement of fresh sanctions is expected to set off North Korea's
ire. But some experts say such sanctions will have only a limited impact on the
reclusive state dependent on trade with China and other states.
The first stage of the rocket, launched Sunday morning from northeastern North
Korea, apparently fell harmlessly into the Sea of Japan about 280 kilometers
off the coast of Akita Prefecture, while the rest of the rocket flew over
northeastern Japan and into the Pacific Ocean, according to the Defense
Ministry.
On U.N. Security Council developments, Nakasone said he agreed with his U.S.
and South Korean counterparts, Hillary Clinton and Yu Myung Hwan, in telephone
talks earlier in the morning that the three countries would continue to work on
getting the council to adopt a new resolution.
''As I have said, I believe that the U.N. Security Council should deal with
North Korea sternly,'' Nakasone said.
In talks with China scheduled on the sidelines of a series of regional summits
this weekend, Japan will call on the country, which has been cautious about
antagonizing Pyongyang, to support Japan's position, Nakasone said.
Aso is scheduled to attend the so-called ''ASEAN-plus-three'' summit in
Pattaya, Thailand, on Saturday and the 16-nation East Asia Summit there Sunday.
He is slated to hold summit talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Saturday.
The ASEAN-plus-three groups the ASEAN members -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam --
plus Japan, China and South Korea. The East Asia Summit involves the 13
countries plus Australia, India and New Zealand.
==Kyodo
2009-04-10 22:38:52