Japan Struggling to Deter North Korea Provocations

Tokyo, Oct. 9 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government is struggling to deter North Korea's provocations in the face of repeated ballistic missile launches by Pyongyang.

"We've exhausted most of our options," a senior Foreign Ministry official said of Japan's own sanctions on North Korea. International efforts to stop the launches has been blocked by China and Russia.

North Korea fired a ballistic missile that flew over Japan on Tuesday, the first such launch in five years. Most recently, it fired two ballistic missiles on Sunday that could be submarine-launched ones.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held talks over the phone with U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Thursday, vowing to strengthen deterrence.

Kishida told a parliamentary session Thursday that "we will aim to denuclearize North Korea by implementing U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions fully in cooperation with the international community."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]