Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Dutch Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra affirmed Friday the importance of maximizing diplomatic pressure on North Korea over its development of nuclear weapons and missiles.
According to the Foreign Ministry, Kono and Zijlstra agreed during dinner in Tokyo that pressure must be applied through the complete the implementation of U.N. Security Council sanctions until the North changes its policies. The Netherlands will hold the presidency of the Security Council in March.
"North Korea's ballistic missiles are a grave threat to the whole of Europe," Kono said at the start of the dinner, open to the press.
Their meeting coincided with the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea, which has been the focus of a thaw between the two Koreas.
"We should not be naive and only look at the positive development of North Korea participating in the Olympics," Zijlstra said.