TOKYO: Twelve countries seeking to abolish nuclear weapons yesterday denounced North Korea’s atomic programme at the close of a meeting in Hiroshima, saying it endangered global stability.
The Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI) criticised North Korea for its nuclear and missile programmes and urged the reclusive state to accept inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and return to the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
The NPDI, launched in 2010, consists of Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, the Philippines, Poland, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
It called on leaders from nuclear armed countries to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two Japanese cities devastated by US atomic bombings in World War II, to “witness the consequences with their own eyes.”
In recent weeks, North Korea has conducted live-fire drills near the border with South Korea, and test-fired ballistic missiles capable of hitting Japan.
AFP
