Japan, Pacific Islands Seek Resolution of N. Korean Issues

May 20, 2018

Iwaki, Fukushima Pref.- Leaders from Japan and 18 Pacific island countries and territories wrapped up their two-day meeting on Saturday by adopting a declaration urging North Korea to resolve its abduction, nuclear and missile issues.

It is the first time for a document adopted at a Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting to mention North Korean issues.

"We agreed to aim for the dismantlement (by North Korea) of all types of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles of all ranges in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a joint press conference held after the summit.

Abe also stressed that he won support from the other leaders for Japan's efforts to resolve the issue of its citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago.

The summit, the eighth of its kind, was held in Iwaki in the northeastern Japan prefecture of Fukushima, hit hard by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

In the declaration, the leaders "welcomed" the Panmunjom Declaration, adopted by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their meeting in April, which confirmed their common goal of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

They "expressed hope" that a U.S.-North Korea summit, planned on June 12, will lead to progress toward the resolution of Pyongyang's nuclear and missile issues.

The Pacific island leaders then strongly called on North Korea to "immediately take concrete actions in accordance with U.N. Security Council resolutions." They also pledged to continue applying pressure on the reclusive state.

Elsewhere in the declaration, the leaders demanded "the immediate resolution of the abductions issue."

The leaders emphasized the need to accelerate efforts to tackle the problem of North Korea's sanctions-evading tactics, including ship-to-ship transfers of banned goods, by deregistering North Korean trading or fishing vessels currently flagged on their shipping registers, for example.

In addition, they welcomed Japan's active and constructive contribution to cooperation and development in the Pacific region, including through new initiatives such as its free and open Indo-Pacific strategy.

In a keynote speech at the opening of the summit, Abe said, "Japan will be unstinting in its assistance toward improving countries' capacity to 'protect the sea.'"

He announced the launch, in cooperation with the University of the South Pacific, of a program for strengthening the Pacific island nations' maritime security capabilities and suggested that Japan may provide related equipment.

Japan intends to work to promote human resources development and exchanges for 5,000 people or more before the leaders meet again three years later, Abe said. Jiji Press