LOC11:09
08:09 GMT
TOKYO, Dec 14 (KUNA) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and visiting UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday shared the view that UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea should be fully implemented by all the countries.
During their meeting in Tokyo, Abe and Guterres also confirmed the need to maximize pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programs.
"We fully agreed that denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is indispensable for peace and stability in the region," Abe told a joint press conference with Guterres after their talks. "We should send a powerful message that is conducive to strengthening pressure on (North Korea) from the UN Security Council ministerial meeting to be held tomorrow," Abe said ahead of the UN gathering on the North Korean issue due Friday.
For his part, the UN chief said, "It is very clear that the Security Council resolutions must be fully implemented first of all by North Korea but by all other countries, whose roles are crucial to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," stressing that implementation of the resolutions will lead to the denuclearization through peaceful means.
"I would like to join hands with Japan towards the Security Council's goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula," Guterres added. The UN chief arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday for a two-day visit. It is his first trip to Japan since assuming the post in January. (end)
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