Japan PM calls North Korea threat ‘substantially more serious’ than in past
The threat posed by North Korea after its multiple missile and nuclear tests this year is “substantially more serious” than it was in the past and demands an “entirely distinct” response, the Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday.
In an address to the annual United Nations general assembly, Abe said the world needed to thwart North Korea’s plans and it was time for the UN security council to “indicate an unmistakable attitude to this threat”.
Abe said North Korea had launched a total of 21 ballistic missiles this year and had conducted two nuclear tests, the most recent on 9 September.
“The threat has now reached a dimension altogether different from what has transpired until now,” Abe said, adding that it was “substantially more serious than before”.
He said Japan would lead security council discussions on the issue. “We must respond to this in a manner entirely distinct from our responses thus far. We must concentrate our strengths and thwart North Korea’s plans,” he said.