Japan expresses concern to China over Russia-North Korea ties

Japan’s top national security official said he conveyed “serious concerns” to China’s foreign minister over North Korea’s deepening ties with Russia after the pair held talks in Beijing.

Their meeting on Monday was four and a half hours long, according to Japanese media, which said the two also discussed a possible head-to-head between President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba this month at a summit in Peru.

“Regarding current events on the Korean Peninsula, cooperation between Russia and the DPRK came up as a topic of discussion,” Takeo Akiba told reporters late Monday, using the acronym of North Korea’s official name.

“I conveyed our country’s serious concerns about this,” he added after the talks with Wang Yi.