JCP Chair strongly condemns North Korean rocket launch

North Korea on December 12 launched a rocket. Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo immediately issued a statement in protest against the launching as follows:

North Korea on December 12 conducted a rocket launch in disregard of concerns expressed by other Asian nations and the international community as well as the call for restraint from going ahead with the launch. The launch violates the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874 adopted in June 2009 demanding the cancellation of "any launch that uses ballistic missile technology".

The Japanese Communist Party strongly condemns North Korea for having gone ahead with the launch which will only further aggravate the situation. The JCP demands that North Korea comply with the UNSC resolution and rededicate itself to the 2002 Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration and the 2006 Six-Party joint statement.

We call on the UNSC and the world's governments to utilize non-military and diplomatic measures and to make a concerted response for drastically strengthening the effort to engage with North Korea without further aggravating regional tensions.