Aso, Obama agree on need for new U.N. resolution on N. Korea

+

TOKYO, May 26 Kyodo -
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed Tuesday
that the U.N. Security Council must swiftly adopt a new resolution to impose
''additional sanctions'' on North Korea for conducting a second nuclear test in
defiance of an existing resolution, Japanese government sources said.
In telephone conversations held Tuesday morning to discuss an appropriate
response to the latest action on the part of Pyongyang, the two leaders agreed
to encourage China and Russia to cooperate in adopting a fresh U.N. Security
Council resolution, the sources said.
''We agreed that swiftly adopting a strong draft resolution would be the
correct message to send North Korea regarding a number of its actions,'' Aso
told reporters in the evening.
''We also confirmed that our security alliance, which includes nuclear
deterrence, is unshakable,'' Aso added.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told a news conference that the two
agreed that North Korea's proclaimed nuclear test poses a major threat to the
peace and stability of Northeast Asia as well as the international community,
and that they cannot tolerate Pyongyang's action.
During the talks, Aso told Obama it is regrettable that North Korea conducted
the nuclear test at a time when the U.S. president is heightening global
momentum toward nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, the government's top
spokesman said.
Japan's Cabinet ministers also expressed the view that the proclaimed
underground test, following North Korea's first one in October 2006, has
generated grave concern for Japan's security and East Asia's stability.
Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said Japan will take the lead at the U.N.
Security Council in drawing up an effective resolution in response to Monday's
nuclear test.
Asked whether Japan will push for a resolution involving fresh sanctions on
North Korea, Nakasone said Japan will try to ensure that each country
implements agreed measures because Japan's unilateral sanctions alone will be
ineffective in prodding Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear activities.
Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said separately that Japan must take
countermeasures against North Korea together with other countries as
Pyongyang's latest action ''clearly'' violates international law.
''With regard to future responses, Japan must consult closely with other
countries, including the United States, China, Russia and South Korea, and
consider necessary countermeasures,'' Yosano said at a news conference when
asked about whether Japan is ready to impose additional economic sanctions on
North Korea.
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai suggested Japan will not
step up its sanctions against North Korea immediately.
The government needs to ''study how effective the result would be if Japan
makes a unilateral response,'' Nikai said.
==Kyodo