Continue reading

05-03-09 U.S.,Japan Warn North Korea Anew Against Missile Test-Fire

Japan and the United States sent a fresh warning to North Korea Thursday against test-firing a missile,as the allies agreed to step up efforts to stop a launch that would disturb regional peace,the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.Stephen W. Bosworth,the new U.S. envoy on the North,and his Japanese counterpart,Akitaka Saiki,agreed "to urge North Korea not to take an action that would harm the region's peace and stability," the ministry said in a statement.The two envoys said a launch — even that of a satellite as Pyongyang claims — would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions,and agreed to cooperate, along with Seoul,to achieve denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,the ministry said.Bosworth is in Tokyo as part of his Asia tour to discuss resuming stalled disarmament talks.Saiki and Bosworth refused to comment after their talks,their first since the U.S. envoy was appointed.The North says it plans to send a communications satellite into orbit as part of its space program.Its neighbors,however,believe it intends to test-fire a long-range missile,a launch that uses a similar delivery system as a satellite