Pompeo, Abe to coordinate on policies towards N Korea

United States Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, who is in Japan as a part of his South Asian visit has announced that he will be coordinating with Japan on policies towards North Korea.

Talking about Pompeo's upcoming trip to North Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, "Taking this opportunity, I would like to have thorough coordination with you on our respective policies toward North Korea as well as our efforts to address the abductions, nuclear and missile issues."

Pompeo also assured that he will raise the issues mentioned by Abe to North Korea during his visit to Pyongyang.

"It's important for us to hear from you as we - as I travel to Pyongyang to make sure that we're fully in sync with respect to missile programs, the CBW program. We will bring up the issue of the abductees as well. And then we'll share with you how we hope to proceed when we're in Pyongyang tomorrow so we'll have a full coordinated, unified view of how to proceed, which will be what is needed if we're going to be successful in denuclearizing North Korea," Pompeo reiterated.

Abe also recalled his meeting with US President Donald Trump saying, "I had very productive discussions with President Trump over dinner as well as our summit meeting. And I believe that utilizing these opportunities, we could demonstrate to the world that the alliance between Japan and the United States has become more robust than ever."

Mentioning the need of arranging trade deals and agreements with Japan, Pompeo also asserted that such opportunities are very important for two countries.