Suga declines to clarify whether regret over N. Korea missiles shared with pence

May 13, 2019

Tokyo--Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga stopped short of clarifying Monday whether he and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence had shared the view that North Korea's recent firing of short-range ballistic missiles was extremely regrettable.

"At the meeting, we affirmed Japan-U.S. cooperation at all levels including analysis and response and renewed commitment to fully implementing U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions (against Pyeongyang)," Suga told a press conference. Then he said, "I will refrain from revealing further details."

After the Suga-Pence talks in Washington on Friday, Japanese government officials explained that they shared regret over the North Korean missile launches on Thursday.

Suga apparently took into consideration U.S. President Donald Trump's latest remarks on the missile firing suggesting his stance of not making it an issue for now, an observer said. Jiji Press