Australia, Japan agree to keep pressure on North Korea

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono (right) and Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne during a joint press conference in Sydney yesterday

Australia and Japan yesterday reaffirmed their commitment to pressuring North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program and enforcing sanctions on Pyongyang.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia and Japan are committed to working closely with allies and partners to ensure North Korea is pressured to end its nuclear and missile programs. Payne and Defense Minister Christopher Pyne were meeting in Sydney with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya.

“We need to see real steps to complete, verifiable irreversible denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula, Payne told reporters.

Payne and Kono had discussed sanctions enforcement with the United State at last month’s U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Iwaya said the “international community must remain united” to achieve the dismantling of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction.

Meanwhile, Australia and Japan warned China and the United States to settle their differences over trade and political issues using existing rules.

“No country wishes for a new cold war,” Kono said.

President Donald Trump has stepped up pressure on China by raising tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese goods. Beijing has retaliated by imposing penalties on billions of dollars of U.S. products. AP