“No one should be surprised that North Korea continues to conduct nuclear tests to enhance the capabilities of its growing arsenal”, the institute’s Joel Wit said.
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The official said Tokyo also plans to take advantage of the opportunity for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, U.S. President Barack Obama and other leaders to gather at the U.N. General Assembly in NY later this month to discuss the matter.
The ministry made its position clear after dissenting voices suggested that a different approach is needed in the wake of five North Korean nuclear tests in a decade.
The two countries most in danger of a nuclear-armed North Korea, South Korea and Japan, called for fresh measures against the regime.
Ban has condemned the test and urged the Security Council, “to unite and take urgent actions”.
(Newswire.net – September 9, 2016) -Regardless of the fact that the United Nations has imposed sanctions on North Korea, nuclear weapons development in the country has not been ceased.
“This is the fifth nuclear test conducted by North Korea, and it directly defies the UN Security Council which has demanded that North Korea stop nuclear testing”.
Combine that with everything scientists have learned from the four previous tests and North Korea may now have nuclear weapons capable of attacking its Asian neighbors, said nuclear expert Whang Joo-ho of Kyung Hee University in South Korea.
What measures are included in a new resolution will largely depend on China, the North’s major ally and neighbour which fears any instability on the Korean peninsula.
“All sides should refrain from mutual provocation and any action that might exacerbate the situation”, he said.
But if anything unpredictable happens with North Korea, “the impact with be far, far greater than those conflicts in Syria and elsewhere because we are now talking about nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, and an unpredictable regime”, Ban said. Obama said he had told Xi that China needs to “work with us more effectively” to rein Kim in.
South Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Oh Joon said he hopes agreement on a new resolution will come quickly. It claimed it had successfully detonated a nuclear warhead that could be mounted on ballistic rockets. The country has launched more than 20 missiles since the March U.N. resolution.
Gardner’s legislation on North Korean sanctions goes beyond just focusing on its nuclear weapons program.
The most powerful test drew global outrage and gave rise to demands for new United Nations sanctions against the country.
The three countries have no intention to recognize North Korea as a nuclear power.
South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China all condemned the blast at the Punggye-ri nuclear site, the North’s most powerful yet at 10 kilotons.
Meanwhile, Clinton issued a measured statement subtly distancing herself from President Obama and criticising Trump without using his name.
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“At the appropriate moment today I’m confident President Obama will address (this) and we will certainly be discussing this in the context of the United Nations, for sure”. Artificial seismic waves measuring 3.9 were reported after North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006; 4.8 was reported from its fourth test this January.
