Japan’s Kono Likely to Visit Washington on March 16-18

March 4, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono is expected to visit Washington on March 16-18 for talks with U.S. officials on North Korea policy, government sources said Saturday.

Kono's talks with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis are expected to focus on an approach to North Korea after the Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, end on March 18.

Kono is likely to ask the United States to conduct joint military exercises with South Korea after the end of the Paralympics as scheduled.

The Japanese and U.S. officials are expected to reaffirm their policy of applying maximum pressure on North Korea to force Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear and missile programs. Jiji Press