Japan to stress to U.N. chief need to "maximise pressure" on North Korea

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers his policy speech at the lower house of parliament in Tokyo, Japan, November 17, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will stress to the U.N. secretary-general his opposition to talks with North Korea and will instead urge maximum pressure to get it to abandon its weapons programmes, a Japanese official said on Tuesday.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is travelling to Tokyo to deliver a speech on Wednesday at a conference on universal health coverage.