JAPAN: South Korea and Japan reaffirm bilateral cooperation in dealing with North Korea
Record ID:
463640
JAPAN: South Korea and Japan reaffirm bilateral cooperation in dealing with North Korea
- Title: JAPAN: South Korea and Japan reaffirm bilateral cooperation in dealing with North Korea
- Date: 29th June 2009
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (JUNE 28, 2009) (REUTERS) SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT LEE MYUNG-BAK AND JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER TARO ASO WALKING INTO THE NEWS CONFERENCE VENUE IN THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE CLOSE-UP OF SOUTH KOREAN AND JAPANESE NATIONAL FLAGS NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER TARO ASO SAYING: "It is important that the international community implements the U.N. security council sanction 1874. I have agreed with Mr. President about strengthening the bilateral cooperation including sharing information for the implementation of the sanction." LEE AND ASO AT THE PODIUM LISTENING TO A REPORTER ASKING A QUESTION MEDIA COVERING THE NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT LEE MYUNG-BAK SAYING: "It is time for the member countries of the U.N. security council, which unanimously approved the sanction, to implement it." MORE OF NEWS CONFERENCE LEE ARRIVING AT JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE / LEE AND ASO SHAKING HANDS AT THE ENTRANCE LEE AND ASO WALKING DOWN THE HALL WAY TOKYO, JAPAN (JUNE 28, 2009) (FOREIGN POOL) LEE AND ASO POSING FOR CAMERAS MORE OF LEE AND ASO MEETING
- Embargoed: 14th July 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan
- Country: Japan
- Reuters ID: LVA4E58HPF8UGT5RAVSF81ZSIWB0
- Story Text: South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso held a one-day summit in Tokyo on Sunday (June 28) as the two countries agreed to strengthen regional cooperation and trilateral cooperation with the United States in dealing with North Korean issues.
"It is important that the international community implements the U.N. security council sanction 1874. I have agreed with Mr. President about strengthening the bilateral cooperation including sharing information for the implementation of the sanction," Aso told a news conference in Tokyo following the meeting.
Lee, who is visiting Japan for the fourth time as president, discussed North Korea's possible missile launch and nuclear test with Aso and other government officials during an hour long meeting.
Yonhap news agency on Sunday (June 28) quoted a military source as saying that South Korea is acquiring 40 U.S.-made missiles for an Aegis destroyer this month to boost its defences amid reports North Korea may soon test-fire missiles.
North Korea, which rattled regional security with a May 25 nuclear test, is preparing to test a long-range missile that could hit U.S. territory and mid-range missiles that could hit all of South Korea, a South Korean presidential Blue House official said last week.
The surface-to-air missiles for the Aegis destroyer, designed to track and shoot down objects including missiles, can hit targets up to 160 km (100 miles) away, Yonhap quoted the source as saying.
North Korea has also warned ships to stay away from waters off its east coast city of Wonsan, Japan's Coast Guard said last week, in a possible indication of a missile test.
North Korea launched in April a rocket it said was carrying a satellite. The move was widely seen as a disguised test of its long-range Taepodong-2 missile and a violation of U.N. resolutions barring the reclusive state from ballistic missile testing.
The U.N. Security Council punished it for the missile launch by tightening existing sanctions and imposing new ones after the nuclear test to halt its arms trading, one of the few items the cash-short state with a broken down economy can export.
"It is time for the member countries of the U.N. security council, which unanimously approved the sanction, to implement it," Lee told the news conference.
At the weekend, the prickly North warned in an official media report it would shoot down any Japanese military plane that breached North Korean air space.
South Korean officials have said the North's recent sabre rattling may be a way for leader Kim Jong-il to build internal support as he prepares for succession in Asia's only communist dynasty. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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