Trump, Abe discuss exerting pressure on North Korea
United States President Donald Trump had a telephone conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and agreed to have close cooperation between their countries to put pressure on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile program, the White House has announced.
The conversation between the two leaders came as North Korean state media had announced that the country had developed a more advanced hydrogen bomb that it says it plans to load onto an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICMB).
Both the leaders has "reaffirmed the importance of close cooperation between the United States, Japan, and South Korea in the face of the growing threat from North Korea," the White House said.
United States President Donald Trump also spoke to South Korean President Moon Jae on Friday and discussed the threat posed by North Korea.
The United States has agreed to help South Korea build up its missile capabilities and "reached an agreement in principle to revise the 'missile guideline'."
"The two leaders noted the need to strengthen the Republic of Korea's defense capabilities to counter provocations and threats from North Korea, and reached an agreement in principle to revise the 'missile guideline' to the extent hoped by the South Korean side," South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted South Korean presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun as saying.
North Korea fired a Hwasong-12 missile on August 29 capable of carrying a nuclear payload that traveled nearly 2,700 kilometers into the Pacific and triggered alert warnings as it flew over Japan's northern island of Hokkaido.
During his talks with Japanese leader, Trump also noted that he "looks forward to continued trilateral coordination" on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly later this month in New York, the Hill reported.
Despite the heightened tensions in the region, Trump on Saturday confirmed that he was speaking with advisers about the future of the United States' free-trade agreement with South Korea.
The U.S. and South Korea conducted joint military exercises in the face of North Korean aggression last month.
During a visit to the country's Nuclear Weapons Institute, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "watched an H-bomb to be loaded into new ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile)," the Korean Central News Agency reported.
-ANI
