Abe, Trump agree to step up pressure on N. Korea

September 3, 2017

TOKYO- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Donald Trump agreed Sunday that their countries, along with South Korea, will tighten pressure on North Korea, which fired a ballistic missile over Japan last week with no prior warning.

In 20-minute telephone talks, Abe and Trump also reaffirmed that Japan and the United States should redouble efforts to persuade China and Russia to support the adoption of a new UN Security Council resolution imposing stricter sanctions on North Korea.

After the talks, Abe told reporters, "We reached a full agreement to step up pressure on North Korea in order to change its policies."

Abe underscored the policy of promoting close cooperation among Japan, the United States and South Korea to deal with the unilateral escalation of provocative actions by North Korea.

In their talks, Abe and Trump agreed to hold a meeting in New York in late September when they attend the UN General Assembly.

Sunday's talks, held at the request of the United States, followed their phone conversations on Tuesday, hours after North Korea's latest missile launch, and Wednesday. On Friday, Trump held talks over the phone with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Abe said the three rounds of talks with Trump centered on the analysis of the up-to-the-minute situation and how to respond to it.

Abe and Trump are believed to have discussed a report on Sunday by North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency that the reclusive state's leader, Kim Jong-un, has inspected a newly developed hydrogen bomb that can be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The nuclear warhead is a multifunctional bomb capable of an electromagnetic pulse attack, according to KCNA.

It was North Korea's first official acknowledgment of the development of an EMP bomb. Jiji Press