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.
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.
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.
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.