Abe blasts North Korea for ill-timed Sea of Japan missile tests

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday accused North Korea of violating a U.N. Security Council resolution over its reported short-range missile tests toward the Sea of Japan the previous day.

The resolution "calls on North Korea to abandon its ballistic missile programs. I think North Korea must respond to the concerns of the international community," Abe told reporters in Tokyo.

The prime minister said the launches do not pose a threat to Japan's security, but refused to confirm whether the missiles were ballistic, saying it was a security issue.

According to news reports, U.S. Defense Department officials said North Korea tested three short-range ballistic missiles Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki declined comment on the incident, saying he could not divulge confidential information.

He referred to a White House National Security Council spokesman's comment that the U.S. is "deeply troubled" that North Korea has decided to launch the missiles at a delicate time involving the six-party nuclear talks.

"I want to refrain from commenting on specific information on individual cases because it concerns intelligence," Shiozaki said, emphasizing the importance for North Korea not to increase tensions and to take its promised initial steps to denuclearize.

He would not say whether the missile launches violate the 2002 Japan-North Korea Pyongyang Declaration, in which North Korea promised to maintain a moratorium on missile launches.

"In general, (the moratorium) covers ballistic missiles that directly concern our country's safety," Shiozaki said.

Asked about the Pyongyang Declaration, Abe said the North Koreans have violated the agreement several times, including in the area of nuclear development and regarding the past abductions of Japanese.

Last July, North Korea tested seven ballistic missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2. The U.N. Security Council responded by adopting resolutions condemning the launches and imposing various diplomatic and economic sanctions on Pyongyang.

Foreign Minister Taro Aso and his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, on Thursday reaffirmed their nations' close cooperation in moving forward on the stalled six-party talks on denuclearizing North Korea, the Foreign Ministry said.

Aso and Yang, speaking over the phone for 30 minutes, underscored the importance for North Korea to implement the initial steps of denuclearization in a "full and balanced" manner, the ministry said.

There have been several positive developments on the nuclear standoff recently, including Pyongyang's recent announcement that a dispute over funds frozen in Banco Delta Asia in Macau has been resolved and International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have entered the North.

Under a Feb. 13 six-party accord, North Korea agreed to begin shutting down and sealing its Yongbyon nuclear complex and allowing the U.N. inspectors back in.

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