By Yusuke Tanabe

At a press conference on May 14, Minister of Defense Takeshi Iwaya indicated that Japan will not request the members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to hold a meeting. He was speaking in reference to the May 9 launch by North Korea of two short-range ballistic missiles, an act which is prohibited under UNSC resolutions. “We are not particularly thinking of doing such a thing at present,” he said. With reference to U.S. President Donald Trump’s indication that he will not make the missile launches into an issue, Iwaya added, “I think the President’s remark is based on the ties of trust between the American and North Korean leaders.”