10.10am – Japanese PM aide claims offering talks to North Korea would be like giving a trophy to a naughty boy
Tomohiko Taniguchi, special adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, said dialogue should not be opened with the dictator.
The hermit nation fired yet another missile from Pyongyang towards the Sea of Japan on Monday evening, crossing Japanese territory in the boldest show of force under Kim Jong-un’s authoritarian rule.
Mr Taniguchi said Theresa May – who is visiting the country for three days of crucial trade and security talks – had an opportunity to “stand up tall” with Mr Abe against the nuclear threat.
Speaking on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, he said: “It is about a big picture for both countries to make sure that Britain and Japan could work more together for the international community to preserve the rules based in international order.
“North Korean crisis situation fits into that category rather ironically nicely because it’s going to be a golden opportunity for Theresa May and Shinzō Abe to stand up tall and make sure that North Korea’s provocations must continue to be condemned.
“Other than that, inviting North Korea at this moment for any dialogue, either with the United States or with other countries, is almost as if giving a trophy to a naughty boy in your neighbourhood.
“So that’s a non-starter”.
9.40am – UN Security Council calls on members to implement sanctions
The 15-member UN security council said it was of “vital importance” that members implement sanctions against the hermit state and called on Pyongyang to take immediate action to reduce tensions.
However, new sanctions are unlikely to be brought in after they were excluded from a US-drafted statement.
China’s and Russia’s UN ambassadors said they opposed any unilateral sanctions on North Korea, and typically only view long-range missile tests nuclear weapons tests as grounds to implement more sanctions.
Japan’s ambassador to the UN, Koro Bessho, told reporters: “I certainly hope that we’ll be able to have a strong resolution following up this … statement.”
9.05am – North Korea brands missile launch a ‘meaningful prelude’ to Guam threats
Kim Jong-un vowed his recent missile launches were “the first step of the military operation of the Korean People’s Army in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam”.
He added that it is a “curtain-raiser of its resolute countermeasures” against the Seoul-Washington joint military drills.
Donald Trump reiterated that all options were still on the table for dealing with North Korea’s threats as he added the world had received Kim Jong-un’s message “loud and clear”.
8.30am – China must do more to stop North Korea’s ‘OUTRAGEOUS’ missile blasts, Theresa May warns
Theresa May has claimed China must do more in the fight to stop North Korea developing nuclear weapons and carrying out provocative missile tests.
Arriving in Kyoto, the Prime Minister told reporters that Pyongyang’s missile launch – which flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido – was unacceptable.
Mrs May said: “The actions of North Korea, of DPRK, are illegal. They are significant actions of provocation.
“I think it’s outrageous. That’s why we will be working with our international partners, as we have done previously but we will be doubling our efforts with our international partners to put pressure on North Korea to stop these illegal activities.”