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Japanese Parliament condemns North Korean missile launch

Other News Materials 8 April 2009 04:56 (UTC +04:00)

The Japanese Parliament on Tuesday condemned what it regards as a ballistic missile test by North Korea over the weekend.

The lower House called on the government to implement further sanctions against the Stalinist state and urged the UN Security Council to pass a resolution against North Korea.

Meanwhile, the five permanent members of the Security Council in New York continued their tug-of-war over a resolution on what North Korea claimed was the launch of a communications satellite.

The envoys of the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France, after meeting late Monday with Japanese officials, cancelled a planned session to continue the consultations late Tuesday. There was no immdiate schedule for another meeting on the stalled Security Council talks.

Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone stressed at a press conference Tuesday that a concerted approach by the international community was necessary to send a strong message to North Korea.

"We can't predict how the deliberations (in the Security Council) would proceed," Nakasone said. "However, if violations of such as these are allowed to be left without any response given, the UNSC's own authority will be threatened."

For the Japanese Parliament, Sunday's launch of the rocket, which flew across Japan, was a clear violation of an existing Security Council resolution that forbade North Korea from testing ballistic missiles. Pyongyang's action must "not be tolerated," the parliamentary statement said.

Japan passed a similar resolution in October 2006 after Pyongyang tested a nuclear device. Ahead of Sunday's launch, Japan announced that it would add a one-year extension to its sanctions against North Korea, which were to expire next week, reported dpa.

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