Trump gives Japan go-ahead for talks with N.Korea

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - Prime Minister of Japan Monday said that visiting U.S. president has expressed his support for initiating dialogue with North Korea, local media said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference with Donald Trump in Tokyo, Japanese Premier Abe Shinzo said that U.S. president supported his pursuit of first-ever summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Japanese News Agency Kyodo News reported.

However, no date has been set for the meeting, he added.

Trump is on a for-day visit to Japan and is first state guest hosted in the era of new Japanese emperor Naruhito who took over the throne early May.

“Japan and the U.S. are completely on the same page in handling North Korea,” Abe said.

The statement comes despite the fact that Tokyo sharply reacted to Pyongyang's firing of short-range missiles earlier in May.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said North Korea’s missile launches were not a violation of UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

"All I know is there've been no nuclear tests, there've been no ballistic missiles going out, there've been no long-range missiles going out," he added.

North Korea is under severe UNSC sanctions since 2006 when it held unilateral nuclear tests.

Trump said that he was not in rush to strike a deal with Kim over its denuclearization referring to "tremendous sanctions" imposed on the Communist country.

The U.S. president held two summits with Kim in Singapore and Hanoi since June 2018, however, there has been no tangible move on the denuclearization of Korean peninsula.

Pyongyang blamed Washington for breakdown of dialogue and demanded replacement of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for future talks.

Japan has had unilateral sanctions in place against North Korea ever since Pyongyang’s first nuclear arms test in 2006 which have been extended many times since then.

Tokyo also blames Pyongyang for the abduction of its 17 nationals.