Asia

Japan to Keep N Korea Sanctions Regardless of US Steps After Summit - Reports

TOKYO (Sputnik) - The Japanese government has informed the US that it plans to maintain economic sanctions against N Korea in the foreseeable future, even if Washington is considering easing restrictive measures on the country based on the results of the US-North Korea summit, Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported, citing a source in the government.
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The Japanese government source told the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper there was no guarantee that North Korea would take effective steps to achieve the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula even if Trump and Kim reached such an agreement at the second summit.

READ MORE: Tokyo Detects Alleged Illegal Oil Transfer Violating Sanctions Against N Korea

Therefore, Japanese working-level officials have informed the United States that "it was too soon to offer economic cooperation and humanitarian assistance" to North Korea, according to the newspaper.

US Sanctions Against North Korea May Stop Denuclearisation - Foreign Ministry
Moreover, Tokyo wants to maintain North Korea sanctions as a negotiating card during discussions on the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, the news outlet added.

Earlier in the month, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo told NBC’s "Today" show that Washington would not move to ease economic sanctions on Pyongyang until it was confident that the nuclear threat from North Korea was significantly reduced.

READ MORE: State Department Accuses North Korea of Illegal Shipping to Evade UN Sanctions

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are scheduled to meet in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on Wednesday for a two-day summit. The first meeting between them took place in Singapore last June. During the talks, Kim pledged to make efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees for North Korea, the suspension of US-South Korean military drills and potential sanctions relief.

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