Lower House urges N. Korea to abandon nuke, missile programs

December 5, 2017

Tokyo- Japan's House of Representatives urged North Korea to immediately end its nuclear and ballistic missile development programs, in a resolution adopted Tuesday over the reclusive state's test-firing of what it claims was a new intercontinental ballistic missile.

The resolution, passed unanimously at a plenary meeting of the lower chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament, strongly protests against the missile launch last Wednesday, demanding that North Korea not conduct further provocations.

North Korea's nuclear and missile programs are an unprecedentedly grave and imminent threat, trample on the international community's shared resolve for a peaceful resolution of the crisis on the Korean Peninsula and can never be tolerated, the resolution says.

The motion calls on the Japanese government to work closely with other related countries for taking even tougher and more effective measures against North Korea and to better prepare to protect Japanese citizens.

"We must increase pressure on North Korea to the maximum to create an environment prompting it to seek dialogue," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said after the adoption of the resolution.

"Japan is determined to lead the international community's efforts (for resolving the North Korean issues) and thoroughly implement its own measures" against the country, he added.

The House of Councillors, the upper chamber, passed a similar resolution by a unanimous vote at a plenary meeting on Monday, urging North Korea to fully comply with its obligations under related U.N. Security Council resolutions while calling for the Japanese government's full implementation of its own sanctions on Pyongyang. Jiji Press