Telephone Talks between Foreign Minister Gemba and Mr. Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the French Republic, on the Launching of a Missile, Which North Korea Calls a "Satellite"

December 12, 2012
Japanese

On December 12, from 10:05 p.m. (Japan Standard Time) for approximately 10 minutes, Mr. Koichiro Gemba, Minister for Foreign Affairs, held telephone talks with H.E. Mr. Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the French Republic, on the launching of a missile, which North Korea calls a “satellite,” prior to the United Nations Security Council meeting.
Both ministers shared the recognition that the launching of the missile by North Korea despite strong request from the international community for self-restraint was a seriously provocative act for security and a serious threat.
Based on such recognition, Minister Gemba expressed his strong expectation for France’s role as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, stating that the launching of the missile clearly violated the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and it would be required to take stronger action than the one taken in April because the UN Security Council Presidential Statement released when North Korea had launched a missile in April stated that the Security Council would take action accordingly in the event of a further North Korea launch of a missile.
In response to this, Foreign Minister Fabius stated that he strongly denounced the provocative act by North Korea and that he sufficiently understood the ideas of the Japanese side and would like to respond properly at the UN Security Council taking such ideas into consideration.
Finally, both Ministers shared views that they would closely coordinate with each other concerning the future response on this issue.

(* The foregoing is a provisional translation. The date indicated above denotes the date of issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

(END)