(unofficial translation)
29 August 2017
Remarks by Mr. Tadamori Oshima
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Japan
Early this morning, North Korea launched a ballistic missile that flew over Japan and landed
in the Pacific Ocean. We fully share the awareness of the Government of Japan as expressed
in the statement that the launch
of this ballistic missile “poses an
unprecedented grave and
serious threat.”
North Korea has repeatedly launched ballistic missiles, which in combination with the five
nuclear tests that it has conducted clearly challenge the peace and security of Japan and this
entire region, as well as the whole of the international community. This situation is
completely unacceptable to us.
Japan and the international community have protested the actions of North Korea through a
number of United Nations Security Council resolutions and strongly demanded compliance
with these resolutions. As the representative of the people of Japan, the House of
Representatives has strongly protested the actions of North Korea and has adopted resolutions
firmly demanding the immediate and complete abandonment of both its nuclear weapons and
its missile development program. We once again strongly demand that North Korea restrain
itself.
Recent actions taken by North Korea have served to underscore the accuracy
of Japan’s
perception that the North Korean threat has reached
“a
new level of
threat.” We strongly urge
the Government of Japan to maintain this strict stance while reinforcing its appeals made in
the UN Security Council as well as those to the United States, South Korea, China, Russia,
and other major countries. We also call on the Government of Japan to take every possible
measure to ensure the safety of the Japanese people.
We highly respect Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s
statement that the Government of Japan
maintained a full and complete grasp of the path of the missile from immediately after its
firing and has taken all possible measures to protect the lives of the Japanese people, which
together with the rapid issuance of warning information through the J-Alert system brought
relief and peace of mind to the people. We earnestly hope that continuous efforts will be made
to strengthen the defense of
Japan’s
territory and its people.
To promote the exchange of information and to develop a shared awareness with the Cabinet,
we have called on all relevant parties in the House of Representatives to engage in continuous
committee deliberations while the Diet is not in session.