TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio on Thursday pointed to the significance of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to realize a world without nuclear weapons.

“I place great importance on promoting the entry into force of the CTBT, in a bid to bring the reality of this severe security environment closer to the ideal of a world without nuclear weapons,” Kishida said at a meeting with Robert Floyd, executive secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization.

Kishida stressed that he wants to send a strong message toward realizing a world without nuclear weapons at a Group of Seven summit to be held in the western Japan city of Hiroshima in May.

The prime minister also said that Japan aims to work closely with the Preparatory Commission in dealing with North Korea’s nuclear and missile development.

Over the CTBT, the first summit-level meeting among like-minded countries took place in New York in September last year.

Floyd said Kishida’s personal leadership led to the meeting.

The same day, Floyd said at a press conference that he wants North Korea to stick to its promise, made in April 2018, to halt its nuclear tests temporarily.

North Korea is the only country to have carried out a nuclear test this century, he told the news conference hosted by the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo.

If North Korea ends its nuclear tests and signs the CTBT, it would send a strong message, Floyd added.

JIJI Press