Trump, Abe agree to strengthen response

TOKYO • US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to boost their response to North Korea's missile programme and urged China to do more.

In a phone call, the leaders "agreed to strengthen our deterrence capability against the North Korean threat", Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura said yesterday after Pyongyang fired what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile into waters in Japan's exclusive economic zone. Mr Trump and Mr Abe also "agreed that China needs to play an increased role" in countering North Korea, he added.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a separate news conference that they did not discuss military options on North Korea.

Mr Trump also spoke with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae In yesterday. They warned that Pyongyang's latest missile launch posed a "grave" global threat.

"Both leaders underscored the grave threat that North Korea's latest provocation poses not only to the United States and the Republic of Korea, but to the entire world," the White House said in an account of Mr Trump's call with Mr Moon.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 30, 2017, with the headline Trump, Abe agree to strengthen response. Subscribe