Japanese, Dutch Defense Chiefs Discuss N. Korea

September 5, 2018

Tokyo- The defense chiefs of Japan and the Netherlands have confirmed the importance of keeping in place sanctions on North Korea under relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions to realize the denuclearization of the reclusive country, the Japanese Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

At a meeting in the Netherlands on Tuesday, Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told his Dutch counterpart, Ank Bijleveld, that his country wants to work closely with the European nation, which now serves as a nonpermanent member of the powerful U.N. organ.

The Dutch minister agreed, according to the ministry.

At a separate meeting with Fernando Arias, director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, earlier in the day, Onodera showed Japan's readiness to actively cooperate with the OPCW, based in The Hague, the Netherlands, through personnel dispatch and other ways. Jiji Press