Japan can 'never tolerate' North Korea's 'provocative' acts: PM Abe

September 15, 2017 | 17:00
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TOKYO: Prime minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday (Sep 15) that Japan would "never tolerate" what he called North Korea's "dangerous provocative action that threatens world peace" following a missile launch over his country.
North Korea has raised tensions in the region with its rapid progress in weapons technology under leader Kim Jong-Un. (Photo: AFP/Ed Jones)

"We can never tolerate that North Korea trampled on the international community's strong, united resolve towards peace that has been shown in UN resolutions and went ahead again with this outrageous act," Mr Abe told reporters.

"If North Korea continues to walk down this path, it has no bright future. We must make North Korea understand this," he added.

Japan was jolted awake in the early hours by an alert saying North Korea had fired a missile over its northern island of Hokkaido, the second such launch in less than a month.

Abe called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and stressed: "Now is the time for the international community to be united."

SECURITY COUNCIL TO HOLD EMERGENCY MEETING

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Friday concerning North Korea's latest missile launch, the council presidency announced.

The United States and Japan requested the meeting, which will be held at 3 pm (1900 GMT), according to the Ethopian council presidency. The meeting will be closed-door, diplomats said.

Pyongyang's latest launch comes after the Security Council imposed an eighth set of sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile and atomic weapons programme.

North Korea had on Wednesday vowed to accelerate its weapons programme in response to being slapped with the "evil" sanctions.

The fresh punitive measures include a ban on the North's textile exports and restrictions on shipments of oil products.

In the latest test, North Korea fired an intermediate range ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean, according to the US military's regional command, which said the launch did not pose a threat to North America.

AFP

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