Palm Beach : President Donald Trump, second from right, and first lady Melania Trump, right, stop to pose for a photo with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, second from left, and his wife Akie Abe, left, before they have dinner at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017. AP/PTI Photo

Japan, US resolve to hike pressure on North Korea after missile test

Date

RSTV Bureau

Palm Beach : President Donald Trump, second from right, and first lady Melania Trump, right, stop to pose for a photo with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, second from left, and his wife Akie Abe, left, before they have dinner at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017. AP/PTI Photo

FILE: Palm Beach : President Donald Trump, second from right, and first lady Melania Trump, right, stop to pose for a photo with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, second from left, and his wife Akie Abe, left, before they have dinner at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017. AP/PTI Photo

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said that he and US President Donald Trump agreed to hike pressure on North Korea after it launched a ballistic missile over Japan, in Pyongyang’s most serious provocation in years.

“We must immediately hold an emergency meeting at the United Nations, and further strengthen pressure against North Korea,” Abe told reporters after a 40-minute phone call with Trump.
“Increasing pressure — Japan and the United States are in complete agreement about this,” Abe added, without elaborating on proposed measures.
He added that Trump — who has been embroiled in an escalating war of words with Pyongyang over its weapons development — said Washington would stand by its ally Japan.
“President Trump made a very strong commitment that the United States is with Japan 100 percent,” Abe quoted Trump as saying.
“We will cooperate among Japan, the US and South Korea. We will also reach out to China, Russia and the international community and apply strong pressure on North Korea to change their policy.”
File Photo: This image made from video of a still image broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT on Wednesday, April 26, 2017, shows leader Kim Jong Un at what was said to be a "Combined Fire Demonstration" held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this photo.

File Photo: This image made from video of a still image broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea’s KRT on Wednesday, April 26, 2017, shows leader Kim Jong Un at what was said to be a “Combined Fire Demonstration” held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this photo.

Last week, Japan said it would impose fresh sanctions on North Korea by freezing the assets of Chinese and Namibian firms doing business with the nuclear-armed state.

The move against a half dozen organisations and a couple of individuals comes days after Washington expanded its own punitive measures against Chinese and Russian firms, as well as people linked to Pyongyang over its weapons development.
The sanctions are aimed at disrupting the flow of cash funding North Korean weapons programmes, which are in violation of United Nations resolutions.
Japan’s top government spokesman said the missile flew over the country’s northernmost island Hokkaido and then fell into the Pacific, some 1,180 kilometres (733 miles) east of the coast.
“So far no fallen objects have been confirmed to have fallen inside Japanese territory,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told an emergency press briefing.
“There is no report of damage to aircrafts and vessels” in the area, he added.

Tags

, , ,