Trump, Abe to step up pressure on North Korea
TOKYO: US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirmed in phone talks that they would step up pressure on North Korea in cooperation with South Korea, a Japanese government spokesman said yesterday.
The bilateral talks were aimed at confirming close cooperation among the US, Japan and South Korea before a Group of 20 summit meeting in Hamburg, Germany, later this week, the spokesman said.
Mr Trump met with South Korean President Moon Jae In at the White House last Friday.
After the talks with Mr Moon, Mr Trump said the US was renegotiating a "rough" trade deal with South Korea agreed to five years ago by his predecessor, Mr Barack Obama.
Mr Trump also reiterated that an era of "strategic patience"over the North's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes had ended.
It is unclear how Mr Trump will find a way forward on the North, which is working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US. - REUTERS
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