THE JAPAN NEWS: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe highly evaluated the U.N. Security Council’s new resolution to impose sanctions on North Korea on Wednesday, issuing a statement that the resolution demonstrates the international community’s will to take a resolute response with a new dimension completely different from the past.
The resolution followed North Korea’s fifth nuclear test in September.
The Japanese government plans to tighten its unilateral sanctions against the country in tandem with the United States and South Korea, and it is currently considering measures such as expanding the scope of people banned from reentering Japan after visiting North Korea. Tokyo will put more pressure on Pyongyang to urge it to soften its attitude, while continuing to seek ways for bilateral talks to resolve the issue of abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea.
In February, North Korea unilaterally declared that it would halt a renewed investigation into the issue of Japanese abductees, citing Japan’s tightened sanctions against the country as a reason. Since then, the bilateral negotiations appear to have stagnated, with a source close to the Japanese government saying, “We need to endure the situation for a while.”