Japan PM urges North Korea to refrain from more provocative actions

REUTERS

 

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks during an upper house panel session at the Parliament in Tokyo, Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo April 13, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS

 

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged North Korea on Monday to refrain from taking further provocative actions, comply with U.N. resolutions and abandon its nuclear missile development.

 

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have escalated as U.S. President Donald Trump takes a hard rhetorical line with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has rebuffed admonitions from China and proceeded with missile tests.

 

North Korea launched a ballistic missile on Sunday but it blew up almost immediately, the U.S. Pacific Command said.

 

Abe told parliament he would exchange views on North Korea with Russian President Vladimir Putin when they hold a summit meeting later this month.

 

He also said the government was considering measures to respond to contingencies stemming from a potential crisis on the Korean peninsula, including floods of refugees and how to evacuate Japanese citizens from South Korea.

 

"We assume a series of responses in case of evacuees into Japan, such as protecting them, a process of landing, housing facilities and their management, and a screening whether our nation should protect them," Abe said.

 

Japan's National Security Council discussed how to evacuate its nearly 60,000 citizens from South Korea in the event of a crisis, a government official said on Friday amid rising concern over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

 

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visited the demilitarised border between North and South Korea on Monday and reiterated that the U.S. "era of strategic patience" with Pyongyang was over.

 

(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko and Teppei Kasai; Editing by Michael Perry and Paul Tait)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-17

I strongly suspect that the lunatic running North Korea will take absolutely no notice of this appeal.

It is of concern that Japan is looking at how to evacuate its people though, which suggests they do view military confrontation as very possible.

Unfortunately it is time to strike and make them understand. For too long there has been talks, sanctions etc and nothing has happened. If they can't even get their ballistic missiles to work it is highly unlikely they will get anything together.  I'm sure those in power know what to do to make it happen and get it done. Their reluctance is of course South Korea and possibly Japan but its more about South Korea. Once they get past that, and they must, they need to swiftly get it done by hitting every Military base they know.

The can has been kicked down the road for years and unfortunately it can be kicked no further.

Despots around the world have taken note after regime change in Libya, Iraq, and possibly

Syria, none are safe without nuclear weapons. That said while you have less than 10 warheads you

are a target. The USA/World may have been content to continue kicking the can down the road

but with ICBM development by North Korea any patience the US displayed has passed. This could

well be ugly. The North Korean government has nothing to loose and the US/World have everything to

fear. I would not be booking a ticket to next years Winter Olympics.  

14 hours ago, webfact said:

He also said the government was considering measures to respond to contingencies stemming from a potential crisis on the Korean peninsula, including floods of refugees and how to evacuate Japanese citizens from South Korea.

Yet it seems the South Korean government itself is unconcerned about emergency evacuation of its citizens, especially in Seoul, in the event of a North Korean counter-attack to a US first-strike attack. The South Korean government has reassured reassure citizens that there would be no such attack by the US without its consent.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/11/world/asia/south-korea-north-military-strike.html

Somehow I don't see Trump being too concerned about asking permission.