Pompeo speaks with Japanese FM on N.Korea

The US State Department said on Friday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had spoken over phone with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono to discuss the denuclearization of North Korea.

According to a statement issued State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, Pompeo and Kono on Thursday discussed "the ongoing pressure campaign to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea as agreed to by Chairman Kim Jong-un in Singapore", Xinhua reported.

"They also talked about the upcoming UN General Assembly and global security issues of importance to the US-Japan alliance," read the statement.

The White House on Thursday announced that US President Donald Trump will during the UN General Assembly next week meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, among all leaders.

During his September 18-20 trip to Pyongyang, South Korean President Moon Jae-in held talks with the top leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, and signed the Pyongyang Declaration on further steps towards the Korean Peninsula's denuclearization and concrete measures to end hostile acts near inter-Korean border areas.

However, the US State Department on Thursday said the denuclearization of Pyongyang has to come first before the US side gives any corresponding reciprocal measures.

--IANS

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