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

TOKYO, May 30 Kyodo - Prime Minister Taro Aso and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed Saturday
on the need for the U.N. Security Council to adopt a new resolution on North
Korea, including additional sanctions against the country for conducting a
nuclear test, a Japanese government official said.
Aso and Medvedev agreed on the matter during telephone talks after Pyongyang's
second underground nuclear test conducted Monday, following its first such
experiment in October 2006 which sparked strong criticism from the
international community.
Aso emphasized the need for a new resolution that includes fresh sanctions,
saying the nuclear test ''is not permissible,'' and Medvedev concurred, the
official said.
But they did not discuss details about the possible new sanctions and it
remains unclear what Russia thinks about ideas floated by Japan and the United
States to strengthen the enforcement of inspections of cargo on North Korean
ships and imposing additional financial sanctions.
Russia and the United States are among the five permanent Security Council
members with veto power, along with Britain, China and France.
Earlier Saturday, Aso urged North Korea to exercise self-restraint amid reports
the country appears to be preparing to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic
missile.
''It comes down to how North Korea will take the message in international
opinion,'' Aso told reporters in Yokohama. ''I hope it will not hear wrong the
important message in terms of getting on in the international community.''
Aso also brushed aside Medvedev's recent remarks criticizing Japan's stance on
four Russia-held disputed islands off Hokkaido, saying the Japanese government
remains unchanged in its position of seeking the return of the islands.
Medvedev said Friday that any attempts by Japan to raise questions about
Russia's sovereignty over the disputed islands would not help the two countries
continue talks for the conclusion of a bilateral peace treaty.
In their phone conversation Saturday, the two leaders reaffirmed their plan to
discuss the territorial dispute when they meet on the sidelines of the Group of
Eight summit scheduled in July in Italy, the official said.
Aso told Medvedev that he wants to talk about the issue properly in July after
thorough preparations, while the Russian leader noted that it is a
''sensitive'' matter. Neither brought up Medvedev's earlier comments, according
to the official.
The longstanding territorial issue involving four islands -- Kunashiri,
Etorofu, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group known in Japan as the Northern
Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils -- has prevented the two
countries from signing a post-World War II peace treaty.
==Kyodo