France sends frigate to East China Sea to join surveillance on North Korea
- The French frigate Prairial will join international efforts to block North Korea from engaging in ship-to-ship transfers of goods at sea
- It will be the second time that France has carried out such activities in waters near Japan since 2019
Japan welcomed the dispatch of the surveillance frigate Prairial, with the ministry pledging to ensure “effective implementation” of relevant UN Security Council resolutions in partnership with France and other members of the international community.
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The Japan Coast Guard and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force are collecting information on the activities of “vessels suspected to be in violation” of the resolutions, and Tokyo will “work closely with related countries”, the ministry said in a statement issued on Thursday.
Japan also vowed to maintain solidarity with allies and partners “for the realisation of North Korea’s dismantlement of all weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles of all ranges in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner”, it said.
Japan has reported to the United Nations multiple cases of suspected ship-to-ship goods transfers between North Korean and foreign-registered vessels in the East China Sea since 2018.
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The submarine also took part in a joint drill last December with the MSDF and the US Navy off Japan’s southernmost island of Okinotorishima.
Paris has strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific where it has territories, including the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean and French Polynesia in the South Pacific.