AKIPRESS.COM - Statement of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea about the possibility to conduct a new nuclear test threatens peace and stability, Japan intends to voice protest, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan Yoshihide Suga said.

He made it clear that this issue will be raised at the ongoing consultations in Beijing at the level of heads of departments of Foreign Ministries of Japan and North Korea. The intergovernmental consultations between the two countries started on Sunday after a break of almost one and a half year. Japan looks forward to discussing the issue of abduction of Japanese citizens, as well as nuclear program and development of rocket technology in North Korea.

The Japanese experts believe that the new nuclear test is likely to be an approbation of weapons with highly enriched uranium. The same day the Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that the DPRK authorities have warned the North Korean ships about the dangers of navigating in the Sea of Japan for three days starting on Sunday.

The DPRK statement was made amid a joint military exercise of the U.S. and South Korea that are considered as a threat by the North Korean authorities.