Foreign minister should refrain from military-first thinking in dealing with N. Korea issue: JCP Ichida

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Foreign minister should refrain from military-first thinking in dealing with N. Korea issue: JCP Ichida

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi at a press conference on October 16 demanded that the foreign minister abandon military-first thinking in dealing with the issue of the North Korean nuclear test.

Foreign Minister Aso Taro said on a TV program aired on October 15 that the present situation can be considered as an emergency "situation in areas surrounding Japan" that will allow the government to invoke the Law on Measures to Deal with Situations in Areas Surrounding Japan.

Ichida stated, "The Japanese government has over and over again expressed that the present situation cannot be regarded as 'situations in areas surrounding Japan.' When the international community is about to make concerted efforts to bring about a peaceful diplomatic solution, the foreign minister says that the situation can be regarded as a state of war. I wonder if the foreign minister is seriously considering diplomacy."

Pointing out that the U.N. Security Council resolution calls on the international community to join together in imposing non-military sanctions on North Korea, Ichida said, "Aso's remarks run counter to the UNSC resolution. He must refrain from calling for military responses."
- Akahata, October 17, 2006