Apr 20 (NHK) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Donald Trump have agreed to maintain the maximum pressure on North Korea until the country takes concrete steps for denuclearization. The 2 leaders also agreed to create a new framework to discuss trade and investment.
Abe and Trump held a joint news conference on Wednesday at the president's Florida retreat, after wrapping up their 2-day summit.
Abe said the North Korea situation is at a historic turning point, thanks to President Trump's decision to hold the first US-North Korea summit.
Trump said he will be meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
He expressed hope that the meeting will be a success, and said he is looking forward to it.
But Trump added that he will walk away if the talks are not fruitful.
Abe said they had discussed various scenarios in detail and carefully coordinated their policies on the North.
He stressed that Japan and the US, together with the international community, will demand that North Korea scrap its nuclear arsenal and other weapons of mass destruction, as well as its ballistic missiles, in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.
Abe said North Korea should not be rewarded simply for agreeing to dialogue. He said they reaffirmed their commitment to maintain the maximum pressure on the North until it takes concrete steps toward denuclearization.
On the abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea, Abe said Japan and the US will continue to work closely together to bring all the abductees home.
He said if North Korea heads in the right direction, there could be a settlement of issues of the unfortunate past based on the 2002 Pyongyang Declaration between Japan and North Korea, and the way could be opened to diplomatic normalization. The declaration calls for settling all pending issues between Japan and North Korea before the 2 countries normalize ties.
Source: ANNnewsCH
