Aso urges N. Korea to respect 'consensus of global community'+

TOKYO, April 14 Kyodo - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday called on North Korea to respect a U.N. Security Council statement condemning its rocket launch after the North
rejected the document and vowed to further reinforce its nuclear deterrence.

''It's most important for North Korea to listen sincerely to the voice of the
international society, as the statement came out as a response (to the rocket
issue) by the U.N. Security Council,'' Aso told reporters.
On Pyongyang's announcement that it will no longer participate in the six-party
talks on denuclearizing North Korea, Aso said the North should act properly and
resume taking part in the talks as stated in the statement.
Asked whether Japan will seek China, the North's closest ally, to convince
Pyongyang to return to the talks, Aso said, ''I suppose that China, as a
permanent member of the Security Council, will act by itself, not because it
was asked to do so.''
The six-party negotiations, involving the two Koreas, China, the United States,
Japan and Russia, have remained stalled since December, when they broke down
over differences on ways to verify North Korea's nuclear programs.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura separately told a news conference that
the government hopes that China will exercise its position as chair of the
denuclearization talks to convince Pyongyang to return.
''We urge North Korea to take the presidential statement (adopted by the U.N.
Security Council) seriously, return to the six-party talks and fully comply
with Security Council Resolution 1718'' that bans the country from all missile
activities, Kawamura said.
The Security Council adopted a presidential statement Monday condemning
Pyongyang's April 5 rocket launch as a violation of the resolution and
demanding no further launches.
Kawamura said the Japanese and Chinese leaders need to discuss how to closely
cooperate in proceeding with the six-party talks when Prime Minister Taro Aso
visits China later this month.
Aso expressed satisfaction over the presidential statement, saying, ''Japan
should be content with the contents as we were able to send a concerted message
swiftly.''
Kawamura also expressed appreciation over the statement, calling it a
''significant achievement'' for Japan's diplomacy, saying, ''The content of the
presidential statement eventually became extraordinarily strong.''
He said it is in line with Japan's assertion that the launch should be
condemned as a violation of resolution 1718 and that the council should send a
strong message.
Japan had ''come to the conclusion that we'd like to seek substance rather than
an action in form only,'' he said.
Kawamura said that Japan, which had initially insisted on adopting a more
powerful resolution at the Security Council, had made diplomatic efforts at
various levels.
North Korea claims the launch was for sending a satellite into orbit, but Japan
and many other countries suspect it was a cover for a long-range ballistic
missile test.
Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said in a statement that the Security
Council presidential statement ''has important significance not only for Japan,
which was exposed to grave risks by the launch, but also for the security of
the entire Northeast Asia region.''
==Kyodo