TOKYO — Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday it's time to send a strong message to North Korea that it cannot blackmail the rest of the world with harsh rhetoric and threats of building nuclear weapons.
"The North Koreans tend to come up with provocative words and statements" regarding their development of nuclear weapons, Koizumi said in an interview with a small group of reporters, including The Associated Press.
"They have made statements that are like blackmail," he said. "It is important for us to approach them, to work on them, to make them understand that such a position is meaningless."
Koizumi stopped short of advocating economic sanctions against the communist nation. He said Japan should study strengthening its missile defenses, but must remain committed to its long-standing policy of using the military strictly for self-defense.
Japan launched its first spy satellites in March, largely to monitor North Korea's missile development. North Korea shocked Japan by firing a ballistic missile over its main island in 1998.
Tokyo also is considering buying Patriot missiles from the United States.
The current nuclear crisis started when U.S. officials said North Korea claimed it had a secret nuclear program in violation of a 1994 pact. North Korea has since restarted a frozen nuclear reactor, and reportedly told American officials last month it has nuclear weapons.
Koizumi gave the interview before leaving to join world leaders in St. Petersburg, Russia, for the city's 300th anniversary celebrations. From there, he will fly to Evian, France, to attend the Group of Eight summit of the world's leading industrialized nations.
In St. Petersburg, Koizumi was to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and hold his first summit with China's new president, Hu Jintao.
Koizumi said he will seek China's cooperation on North Korea, but added that he does not expect the two leaders to discuss the possibility of economic sanctions.
Koizumi's diplomacy with North Korea has so far had mixed results.
Last September, he pulled off a major coup, flying to Pyongyang for a high-profile summit with reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
He won the freedom of five Japanese who were abducted decades earlier by North Korean spies. But talks to improve relations have since fizzled over whether the five should be sent back, and over the North's development of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.
Polls show Koizumi's popularity has slipped considerably from the near 90 percent support he initially enjoyed. The economy has remained stagnant, and experts have had little praise for how he has tried to fix it.
Yet, Koizumi remains as stridently self-assured as ever about his prospects for re-election when his tenure as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party expires Sept. 30.
Koizumi has demonstrated a remarkable resilience in Japan's top post, especially considering that this country saw a parade of seven prime ministers in the decade before him, including one who lasted only 64 days.
Though battered by critics and no longer revered by voters as a fire-breathing reformer ready to single-handedly pull the world's second-largest economy out of the dumps, he is still generally regarded as the best option available.
Analysts say that's probably good enough to win him another two years.
"There doesn't seem to be a candidate capable of competing with Koizumi," said political commentator Kenzo Uchida. "His support is still 50 percent, though the pattern is for prime ministers' ratings to fall to 20 or 30 percent."