Tokyo protests missile launch

February 12, 2017

Tokyo- Japan lodged a strong protest after North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan on Sunday. The missile launch “clearly violates U.N. Security Council resolutions and is totally unacceptable,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference. Japan presses North Korea not to take any further provocative actions, Suga said. The protest was lodged via the Japanese embassy in Beijing. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, while on a US trip, instructed officials to collect and analyze information thoroughly for timely and proper disclosure, to ensure the safety of aircraft and ships and to prepare for contingencies. Suga said Japan will cooperate closely with the US, South Korea and other countries concerned to stop further provocative actions by North Korea. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that Japan will promote information-sharing and security cooperation with the United States and South Korea. Kishida also said Japan will ask U.N. Security Council members to send out a strong message to North Korea. The focus of Tokyo’s response is on when it will send back its ambassador to South Korea, Yasumasa Nagamine, to Seoul to promote policy coordination. (Jiji Press)