Japan’s Abe Urges North Korea to Shut Down Nuclear, Missile Programs

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on Friday on North Korea to fully halt existing nuclear and missile programs amid allegations of a recent test of its first hydrogen bomb.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, North Korea announced that it had successfully tested a nuclear fusion bomb. Following the announcement, the UN Security Council said it would begin work on anti-Pyongyang measures in a new resolution. The test, however, has not been confirmed yet, Cristian Istrate, the Chairperson of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said Thursday.

"I urge [North Korea] to completely abandon the existing nuclear and missile programs and promptly and fully comply with a UN Security Council resolution," Abe said during a parliamentary session, as quoted by the Kyodo news agency.

Earlier in the day, the upper house of Japan's parliament unanimously adopted a resolution condemning North Korea's fourth nuclear test.

North Korea declared itself a nuclear power in 2005 and conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013, having earlier withdrawn from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that it ratified in 1985.