Suga, Pompeo agree on close cooperation over N. Korea

May 10, 2019

Washington--Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga agreed with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday that the two countries will work closely to analyze and take responses to projectile launches by North Korea.

The chief cabinet secretary, now visiting the United States, also confirmed the policy in a separate meeting with Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan.

Furthermore, Suga and the senior U.S. government officials affirmed the need to fully implement U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions against North Korea.

They also agreed to work together toward achieving an early resolution to the issue of abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea.

In his meeting with Pompeo, Suga explained Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's determination to resolve the abduction issue through a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Earlier this week, Abe said in his telephone talks with U.S. President Donald Trump that he will seek to hold a summit with Kim without preconditions.

Elsewhere in the meetings with Pompeo and Shanahan, Suga discussed the planned transfer of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma base in Ginowan in the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa to the Henoko coastal area in Nago, another Okinawa city.

They exchanged views on ways to reduce Okinawa's burden of hosting most of the U.S. military bases in Japan. Jiji Press