Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda voiced displeasure Friday over a suggestion by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that money and goods sent by Japan, South Korea and China are helping to sustain North Korea's dictatorship.
Asked to comment on Rumsfeld's remarks, made during a meeting with Pentagon employees Thursday in Washington, Fukuda said Japan has not been dispatching money and goods to Pyongyang in a proactive manner.
"I would not say it's zero, but it's not that we have been actively doing it," Fukuda said.