Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Saturday that talks with North Korea over its nuclear program cannot resume as long as it continues to carry out provocative acts.
"In light of the current situation, in which North Korea repeats provocative acts and displays no sincere will or specific action toward denuclearization, we cannot immediately restart the six-party talks at this time," Abe said at a news conference in London after talks Friday with British counterpart Theresa May.
Abe condemned the North's failed ballistic missile test on Saturday as "intolerable" and said Japan must instead coordinate with the United States, South Korea, China and Russia — the participants in the denuclearization talks — to address the latest threat from North Korea.
"Dialogue for the sake of dialogue will not lead to any solution," Abe said.
The six-party talks were effectively suspended in 2009.
According to the South Korean military, North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile early Saturday from a region north of Pyongyang that apparently failed and landed in North Korean territory.
"The international community must unite to increase pressure on North Korea, such as through the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions," he said.
He singled out China, North Korea's primary diplomatic and economic benefactor, in the hope that it will "fully and thoroughly play a constructive role" toward the denuclearization of North Korea.