TOKYO -- With South Korea making goodwill gestures toward North Korea ahead of the Winter Olympics, Japan and the U.S. are stressing the need for three-way solidarity to maintain pressure on Pyongyang's nuclear and missile development.
Security issues topped the agenda at Wednesday's meeting here between U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who was on his way to the Pyeongchang Games, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
"As President Trump has said, past experience has taught us that complacency and concessions only invite aggression and provocation" from North Korea, Pence told reporters here.
Abe, too, urged a hard line.
"I value the dialogue between North and South Korea," Abe said in a joint news conference. "But we have to face the fact that North Korea is relentlessly pursuing its nuclear and missile plans."
"Unless North Korea demonstrates a sincere intention and concrete actions toward denuclearization, we cannot expect any meaningful dialogue," Abe also said.
These comments were meant to be heard in South Korea, where President Moon Jae-in's administration has started a dialogue with Pyongyang, using the upcoming Olympics as an opening. Talks last month have been followed by a number of overtures to the North in an effort to ensure the success of the games.
The South allowed the North's Mangyongbong-92 ferry to enter one of its ports Tuesday as an "exception" to unilateral sanctions, and is considering providing meals and fuel to the vessel, which Japanese authorities have suspected of being involved in smuggling and has been banned from Japan. Some in the international community worry these moves could create loopholes in the sanctions regime against North Korea.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Abe's official residence in Tokyo.
© Reuters
Abe and Pence on Wednesday reaffirmed the importance of exerting maximum pressure on North Korea. Pence reiterated the Trump administration's position that "all options are on the table."
"The United States has deployed some of our most advanced military assets to Japan and the wider region to protect our homeland and our allies. And we will continue to," he said.
The vice president and the prime minister reaffirmed the importance of the joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises that have been postponed until after the Olympics and Paralympics. They also agreed to crack down harder on oil products being smuggled to North Korea in violation of sanctions.
Pence and Abe will meet separately with Moon on the sidelines of the Olympics. Abe said he wanted the meetings to show that "the solid relationship of cooperation among Japan, the U.S. and South Korea remains unshaken."
Abe and Pence on Wednesday did not discuss a 2015 deal between Japan and South Korea intended to resolve the issue of wartime "comfort women," Japanese government sources said. The U.S. administration at the time encouraged the agreement, which Moon, who took office last May, says did not take sufficient account of the victims' views.
Pence also said nothing about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, despite a recent comment by U.S. President Donald Trump that the U.S. could consider rejoining the trade and investment pact.
