Japan, US agree to maintain pressure on N. Korea

March 17, 2018

Washington- Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono on Friday agreed with key U.S. government figures that Japan and the United States will maintain maximum pressure on North Korea to realize its denuclearization.

Kono reaffirmed the policy toward the reclusive state when he held talks separately with Vice President Mike Pence and H.R. McMaster, national security adviser to President Donald Trump, at the White House.

In the meetings, Kono asked the United States to put the issue of Japanese citizens abducted decades ago by North Korean agents on the agenda of a meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that is expected to be held by May. Kono and the US officials agreed that the two countries will closely cooperate toward resolving the abduction issue.

Pence stressed that the United States stands with Japan 100 percent and will continue to respond to the North Korean situation through close collaboration with Japan, one of its allies.

McMaster said the United States will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea, stressing the importance of US-Japan-South Korea cooperation.

"I had direct, in-depth exchange of opinions with the US government on North Korean issues," Kono told reporters after the talks. "There are no discrepancies at all in our policies."

Before he met with Pence and McMaster, Kono held separate talks with Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, who has taken over the responsibilities of outgoing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

In his meetings with McMaster and Sullivan, Kono called on Washington to exempt Japan from its new tariffs on steel and aluminum products.

Kono later told reporters that he thinks Japan's circumstances are fairly understood by the United States and wants to continue bilateral discussions. Jiji Press