US Vice President Mike Pence arrives in Tokyo on Tuesday bringing a renewed commitment to Japan’s security amid a growing threat from a nuclear armed North Korea.
SEOUL: US Vice President Mike Pence arrives in Tokyo on Tuesday (Apr 18) bringing a renewed commitment to Japan’s security amid a growing threat from a nuclear armed North Korea.
Throughout his bareknuckle election campaign, US President Donald Trump repeatedly called into question a mutual defence treaty between Japan and the United States, suggesting Tokyo should pay for its own security.
But now, Pence will try to reassure his jittery hosts that those decades-old security commitments are ironclad, a necessity made more acute as tensions rise over Pyongyang’s latest missile test and Washington’s refusal to rule out military action against the regime.
Defying international pressure, the North on Sunday test-fired another missile and fears are growing it may also be preparing a sixth nuclear test.
North Korea could react to a potential US strike by targeting South Korea or Japan, and officials in Tokyo and Seoul have been ill at ease with the more bellicose language deployed by Trump’s administration.
During a visit to the Demilitarised Zone between North and South Korea on Monday, Pence pointed to the new president’s recent strikes on a Syrian airbase and an Islamic State complex in Afghanistan as a warning to Pyongyang not to underestimate the administration’s resolve.
