UK, Japan to maintain pressure on N. Korea

LONDON, April 28 (KUNA) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May and her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe agreed to continue to maintain pressure on North Korea due to its nuclear and missile programs.
The UK and Japan will work with international partners to counter the security threat posed by North Korea's illegal pursuit of nuclear weapons, May said in a statement after her meeting with the Abe at Chequers on Friday.
"We have also highlighted our opposition to any actions on the South and East China Seas likely to increase tension. Stability in this region is of global concern and we encourage all parties to resolve their disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law.
"As we meet today, North Korea continues to take provocative action in the Asia-Pacific region. And the United Nations Security Council is meeting to discuss this very issue," she noted.
"In the face of this belligerence we stand steadfast in our condemnation of such destabilising activity.
"Their nuclear and missile tests are a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and international obligations, and a risk to global peace and stability," May went on.
On other global issues, she said: "We agreed that we should continue to stand firm in the face of destabilising Russian activity, whether in Ukraine or Syria." "And that one of the ways to do this is through economic pressure including the use of sanctions.
"We are clear that these sanctions must remain in place until the full implementation of the Minsk Agreement," May pointed out.
She added that the UK and Japan should work closely together for the benefit of "both our great nations, standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the face of our shared challenges, promoting our shared values, and looking positively to the shared opportunities that the future will bring." (end) mrn.gb