U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill talks to reporters in Tokyo on July 10.

"We want to make it very clear that we are all speaking with one voice on this provocative action by the North Koreans," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said after meeting with Aso at the Foreign Ministry.

Hill arrived July 9 after visiting China and South Korea to discuss North Korea's July 5 missile tests. Pyongyang fired seven missiles despite repeated warnings from Japan, the U.S., South Korea and China, prompting Japan to slap it with new economic sanctions and to submit a resolution to the U.N. Security Council condemning the North and calling for new international trade restrictions.

Hill said that the international community should send "a very clear and unanimous message" warning the North over the missile launches.

The focus of attention at the U.N. has been on whether China and Russia, which have voiced opposition to the resolution, will veto it. A vote on the resolution that was expected to take place in New York early July 11 was postponed.

Hill said they agreed to watch closely whether China, Pyongyang's most influential ally, can persuade the North to stop its missile and nuclear weapon-related activities.

China has been considered a key player in the six-party talks, comprising the U.S., Japan, China, Russia and the two Koreas, aimed at addressing the North's nuclear arms and missile programs. But the fact that Pyongyang ignored Beijing's warning cast doubts on its capability as the chair of the six-party talks.

Hill called on North Korea to return to the six-party talks immediately.

"The North has a choice before it: whether to go for continued isolation or to join the international community," he said.

The Japan Times Weekly: July 15, 2006
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