Japan Backs Taking N. Korea to Security Council

From the Yomiuri Shimbun:

The Japanese government will demand that the issue of North Korea’s nuclear arms development be addressed at the U.N. Security Council if Pyongyang continues to refuse to participate in six-way talks on the topic, The Yomiuri Shimbun learned Thursday.

It also was learned that Japan, the United States and South Korea will hold a meeting of high-level officials in May over the process to bring the case to the United Nations.

In a meeting Wednesday night in Tokyo, Kenichiro Sasae, director general of the Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Bureau, and his U.S. counterpart, Christopher Hill, agreed on the need to consider an “alternative” to the six-way talks if Pyongyang does not return to the negotiating table in the near future.

So far, however, Japan isn’t saying it backs sanctions.