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Showing posts from January, 2018

Japan warns over North Korean 'charm offensive'

Japan has told an international meeting on North Korea that the world should not be blinded by Pyongyang's recent "charm offensive". Foreign Minister Taro Kono's comments in Canada come as North and South Korea discuss Pyongyang's plans to participate in the Winter Olympics. The 20 foreign ministers at the Vancouver talks agreed to increase pressure on Pyongyang. But they also expressed support for the ongoing North-South discussions. North Korea has in the past two years rapidly advanced its nuclear and conventional weapons programmes, despite increasing international sanctions. Its latest ballistic test, on 28 November, sparked a new series of fresh sanctions from the UN, which targeted petrol shipments and travel. But North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said in early January that he was "open to dialogue" with the South and proposed sending a delegation to the Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea next month. The two Koreas subsequently hel