U. S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday to make sure the two allies are on the same page before Pompeo travels to North Korea, where he’ll be under pressure to push Pyongyang toward giving up its nuclear weapons. Pompeo’s
U. S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday to make sure the two allies are on the same page before Pompeo travels to North Korea, where he’ll be under pressure to push Pyongyang toward giving up its nuclear weapons.
Pompeo’s diplomatic offensive in Asia comes as President Donald Trump seeks to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for a second time after their June summit in Singapore.
Pompeo told Abe that it is important for him to hear from the Japanese leader “so we have a fully coordinated and unified view” to successfully denuclearize North Korea. He will also meet with his Japanese counterpart, Foreign Minister Taro Kono, later Saturday before heading to Pyongyang on Sunday. Tokyo is the first stop of his three-day East Asia tour, which also takes him to South Korea and China.
In Beijing, Pompeo will face tensions over trade and accusations of election interference. In contrast, Pompeo’s meetings with Abe and Kono should be more relaxed.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters Friday that they planned to work on deepening their cooperation in their efforts to achieve North Korea’s denuclearization.
