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Japan PM Treads Delicately on N. Korea
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi tried Friday to calm growing cries for economic sanctions against North Korea after the communist country announced it had nuclear weapons, even as Tokyo prepared to ban the North's ships from entering its ports starting next month. Koizumi said economic sanctions against the North could threaten six-nation talks aimed at getting Pyongyang to give up its atomic program.
I'd say NKor belligerence and nuke rattling had already threatened the talks...
"I understand the feelings behind growing calls for economic sanctions, but dialogue and pressure are important," Koizumi told reporters in the northern city of Sapporo. The comments were broadcast by Fuji TV. Public support for economic sanctions has surged amid the ongoing dispute between Tokyo and Pyongyang over the North's abductions of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s.
Posted by: Fred 2005-02-12
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=56281