The leader of the Japanese Communist Party says Japan should shift from pressure to dialogue in its effort to curb North Korea¡¯s nuclear development program.

JCP chief Kazuo Shii, in an interview Monday with The Japan Times, also slammed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe¡¯s support for Washington¡¯s policy on the North that ¡°all options are on the table.¡±

Abe¡¯s ¡°pressure-first¡± approach toward Pyongyang is one of the key issues the prime minister has stressed in the campaign for next Sunday¡¯s general election.