re: time for arvo dump
We haven't seen the end of this N Korea saga yet... and then there's Iran... if N korea shows up how weak the west is then Iran will follow asap... how will the west respond do you think?
TOKYO, Oct. 9, Oct 09, 2006
Japan and the United States on Monday agreed to take the issue of an announced nuclear test by North Korea to the U.N. Security Council to study the possibility of adopting a resolution for tough action against Pyongyang, key officials of both countries said.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer told reporters after meeting with Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki and Foreign Minister Taro Aso, "We...agreed to monitor this situation and to work together to take it to the United Nations for further action."
"The United States is prepared to honor its commitment to its allies in Japan as well as Korea," he added.
The U.S. envoy suggested Washington has yet to confirm that North Korea conducted a nuclear test, saying, "We believe some sort of seismic event has occurred (in North Korea on Monday morning) and we are studying it."
But Schieffer said, "This is a very grave situation and we all are following it with great intensity."
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said Monday that the country had successfully conducted its first-ever underground nuclear test.
Earlier in the day, Shiozaki told a press conference Tokyo was also still trying to confirm whether Pyongyang had indeed conducted a nuclear test, with the Meteorological Agency analyzing seismic data and the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Agency gathering information.
Shiozaki called the suspected nuclear test "a serious threat" to Japan and Tokyo would "lodge a stern protest and condemn it" if the North Korean announcement turned out to be true.
He also said a nuclear test by North Korea would "go against the Japan-North Korea Pyongyang Declaration (in 2002) and the joint statement of the six-nation talks (last year)."
Shiozaki gave no details on how Japan, which holds the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council this month, will handle deliberations in the council on a possible drafting of a binding anti-North Korea resolution referring to Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter.
Adoption by the council of a resolution referring to the charter paves the way for international economic sanctions as well as military options under the world body.
Science minister Bummei Ibuki told reporters Monday, "Seismic waves were detected by an observation network of the Meteorological Agency. They seem to be bigger than those measured in South Korea."
The minister of education, culture, sports, technology and science made the remarks after joining a meeting of a task force the Japanese government set up at the prime minister's office Monday morning to deal with the reported North Korean nuclear weapons test.
According to government sources, China told the Japanese Defense Agency and other government ministries at around 11 a.m. that North Korea had conducted the nuclear test.
North Korea is suspected of pressing ahead with a nuclear test after it declared last week that it would conduct one "in the future."
The U.N. Security Council on Friday adopted a presidential statement expressing concern over the plan and warning of further sanctions by the international community.
Japan, among other countries, has imposed a set of economic and financial sanctions on North Korea for its missile test-firings in July.
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