North Korea slams 'outrageous' missile test sanctions
A North Korean envoy today demanded the immediate lifting of sanctions imposed by Japan in response to the North’s missile tests, calling the measures outrageous, Kyodo News agency reported.
Following North Korea’s test-firing on Wednesday of seven missiles into the Sea of Japan, the Japanese government barred a North Korean ferry from Japanese ports and imposed a number of other measures that stop short of full-scale economic sanctions against the country.
Song Il Ho, the North Korean envoy in charge of talks on restoring relations with Japan, said the Japanese sanctions were “outrageous” and his country would retaliate unless they are lifted.
“Japan is translating its criticism against us into action,” Song told a group of Japanese reporters in the North Korean capital today. “This may force us to take stronger physical actions."
Song also said the missile launches were “part of standard military exercises and will continue".
“Any criticism of this will be met with a stronger and physical response,” Song said. “Japan is uppermost in this regard.”
In Tokyo, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe reacted sharply to Song’s comment.
“The comments are extremely regrettable, and anger me,” he said. “They’d better think carefully who caused such relations in the first place.”
“North Korea needs to understand that unless these problems are solved it will not be able to resolve the economic, food and energy problems it currently faces.”
Abe called for international efforts to send a strong message and pressure to persuade North Korea to not conduct any more launches.
North Korea is the one causing “all the problems” including nuclear disputes, a stand-off over the abductions of Japanese nationals decades ago and concerns over its missile development, Abe said.
North Korea admitted in 2002 to abducting 13 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and ’80s to train spies in Japanese language and culture. It allowed five of them to return home, saying the other eight had died. Many Japanese believe the eight are still alive, and the abductee issue has become one of key sticking points in normalising relations between Pyongyang and Tokyo.
Today, Song said North Korea is ready to resume normalisation talks any time but refused to discuss abduction issues until Japan returns the remains Pyongyang sent to Japan in 2004, claiming they were Japanese abductee Megumi Yokata’s. Japanese tests found the DNA of other people among the remains.
Meanwhile, the chief US negotiator on North Korea met China’s foreign minister today amid stepped up efforts by the world powers to curb North’s provocative behaviour.
The meeting between US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing came after US President George Bush called President Hu Jintao and other world leaders, urging a co-ordinated response to North Korea. Hu, whose country is North Korea’s staunchest ally, urged calm and restraint to alleviate tensions in the region.
China, which provides oil and other economic assistance to North Korea, is seen as key to getting Pyongyang to stop its missile tests and resume long-stalled negotiations over its nuclear weapons programs. The US has urged Beijing to exert maximum leverage on North Korea, though so far Chinese efforts have been largely limited to diplomatic appeals.
