Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2013 February 13 - 19 [NORTH KOREA]

Peace and anti-nuke groups protest N. Korea nuclear test

Peace and anti-nuclear weapons groups in Japan as well as a Japan-North Korea friendship association protested against a North Korean nuclear test conducted on February 12.

The Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) issued a statement by its secretary general, Yasui Masakazu, denouncing the nuclear test as threatening the peace and security of northeast Asia and running directly counter to the global trend toward a conclusion of a convention to ban nuclear weapons.

Yasui said that North Korea should accept UNSC resolutions pressing the country to abandon its nuclear program, cancel all development programs of nuclear weapons and missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and sincerely contribute to achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Ishibashi Masao of a Japan-North Korea friendship society, called Niccho Kyokai, made a statement calling for the path to peace be achieved by adhering to the 2000 North-South Joint Declaration, the 2002 Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration, and the 2005 Six-Party Joint Declaration.

The Japan Peace Committee in its statement said that it is inexcusable for any country to engage in developing nuclear weapons.

Chair of the Japan Federation of Democratic Medical Institutions (Min-iren), Fujisue Mamoru criticized North Korea for posing a serious threat to the security of neighboring countries. To the Japanese government, the Min-iren chairman requested a peaceful and diplomatic response in dealing with the issue.