Prime Minister Shinzo Abe emphasized Monday that diplomatic efforts to defuse rising tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs are necessary, despite the latest military muscle-flexing by Pyongyang.
"Needless to say, it's important to maintain peace through diplomatic efforts," Abe told a Lower House session of the Diet.
"At the same time, dialogue for the sake of dialogue would be meaningless. We need to put pressure on North Korea so that it will seriously respond to calls for dialogue," Abe said.
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