Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2017 April 19 - 25 TOP3 [POLITICS]

Joint military drills will only further threaten North Korea: JCP Koike

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira on April 24 held a press conference at the Diet building, criticizing Prime Minister Abe Shinzo for siding with U.S. President Donald Trump who proclaims “all options on the table” in dealing with North Korea.

Reportedly, PM Abe in a telephone conversation earlier on the same day with President Trump “highly appreciated” his hardline stance toward North Korea.

To this, JCP Koike stated that Japan should retract its approval of Trump’s hardline stance and tell him not to resort to a military option.

Koike criticized Japan’s Prime Minister for having expressed in the telephone talks with the U.S. leader, “Japan will resolutely address (the North Korean issue) by continuing to coordinate with the U.S. and maintaining advanced surveillance and warning readiness” while applauding the joint drills involving Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force and the USS Carl Vinson.

Koike said, “Japan-U.S. joint military exercises show Japan’s intent to be part of U.S. moves against North Korea, which only lead to increasing tensions in the region.”

“What is important is”, Koike said, “not focusing only on what to do if North Korea launches missiles but to make diplomatic efforts to prevent such action from actually taking place.”

Past related articles:
> JCP Miyamoto urges Abe to work to prevent US preemptive strike on N. Korea [April 18, 2017]
> JCP delivers its statement on North Korea issue to nations concerned [April 18, 2017]
> Only 4hrs after Trump’s Syria strike order, Abe expresses ‘support’[April 8, 2017]