Group of Seven finance chiefs on Thursday pledged to apply "maximum economic pressure" on North Korea over the "grave" threat posed by its missile and nuclear weapons development, a senior Japanese official said.
The G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors affirmed close coordination in blocking North Korea's attempts to evade U.N. sanctions, Masatsugu Asakawa, vice finance minister for international affairs, told reporters after a meeting in Washington.
In separate talks of the broader Group of 20 major developed and emerging economies, Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda explained Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to put off the country's goal of achieving a primary balance surplus in fiscal 2020.