Japan’s Self-Defense Force personnel stand by a PAC-3 Patriot missile unit upon its deployment on Japan’s southernmost island of Ishigaki in Okinawa on April 5, 2012. The Patriot is an anti-missile system deployed in response to any nuclear or conventional threat, especially from North Korea, which said it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb on Jan. 6, 2016. AP
TOKYO, Japan — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned North Korea’s announcement that it had carried out a hydrogen bomb test on Wednesday, calling it a “serious threat” to Japan and a “grave challenge” to nuclear non-proliferation efforts.
Abe told reporters: “We absolutely cannot allow this, and condemn it strongly.”
BACKSTORY: North Korea says it successfully tested hydrogen bomb
He called it a violation of the U.N. Security Council agreements that is against the global efforts toward nuclear disarmament.
Abe says he will take “strong action,” work with other nations, the U.S., South Korea, China and Russia, as well as through the U.N.
“The nuclear test that was carried out by North Korea is a serious threat to the safety of our nation and we absolutely cannot tolerate this,” he said.
Abe suggested that the UN Security Council would take up the case as it violates past sanction resolutions.
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