TOKYO (REUTERS) - The United States wants to work with Japan to "calm the rhetoric" over North Korea, the new US ambassador to Japan said on Friday (Aug 18).

"I think the prime minister and President (Donald) Trump see the situation identically," William Hagerty told reporters after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

"We are examining every option we have to contain the regime ... to bring the dialogue down, to get a reasonable discussion and calm the rhetoric," he said.