U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a speech at the opening of a state banquet hosted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Monday, Nov. 6, 2017. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, Pool)
TOKYO — The time for “strategic patience” with North Korea is over, US President Donald Trump warned on Monday, after winning Japan’s backing for his policy of considering all options to rein in the rogue state.
Trump described North Korea’s nuclear program as “a threat to the civilized world and international peace and stability” on the second day of his Asia tour dominated by the crisis.
He vowed that Japan and the United States “will not stand” for North Korea menacing America or its allies.
Trump has signaled in the past that Washington could look beyond a diplomatic solution to Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons ambitions and consider military intervention.
“The era of strategic patience is over,” he declared alongside his host, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Under then President Barack Obama, the United States had ruled out engaging North Korea until it made a tangible commitment to denuclearization.
Washington hoped sanctions pressure and internal stresses in the isolated country would bring about change but critics said the policy gave Pyongyang room to push ahead with its nuclear ambitions.
‘All options on the table’
Abe echoed Trump’s remarks, voicing Tokyo’s support for Washington’s policy that “all options are on the table” to deal with Pyongyang’s threat—including military force.
Abe, whose country is in the firing line of North Korean missiles, also announced Japanese sanctions on the assets of 35 North Korean groups and individuals.
The United Nations has adopted multiple rounds of sanctions against the reclusive North Korea, the most recent in September following its sixth nuclear test and a flurry of missile launches.
Earlier, Trump had appeared to adopt a more conciliatory tone toward North Korea, saying he would not rule out talks with its bellicose young leader, Kim Jong-un.
“I would sit down with anybody,” he said in a television interview. “I don’t think it’s strength or weakness, I think sitting down with people is not a bad thing. So I would certainly be open to doing that but we’ll see where it goes, I think we’re far too early.”
And Trump again praised the “great people” of North Korea, adding: “they are under a very repressive regime” and that he hoped it “works out for everyone.”
‘Lunatic old man’
But Pyongyang showed no sign of letup in its attacks on Trump, with ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun calling him the “lunatic old man of the White House” and saying there was no telling when he would start a nuclear war.
Abe and Trump’s joint news conference capped two days of chummy behavior in which the two golf fans have teed off for nine holes and enjoyed informal and relaxed dinners.
The trip has also provided lighter moments, such as when Trump appeared to lose patience feeding koi carp in the Imperial Palace and tipped his whole box into the pond, to the evident amusement of his secretary of state.
There was also a moment of high emotion when Trump met the families of civilians abducted in the 1970s and 1980s, who were clutching pictures of their young family members.
A number of ordinary Japanese citizens were kidnapped by North Korean agents in order to train spies in Japanese language and culture.
Pressure on Kim
Trump pledged to work to return the missing to their families, intensifying the pressure on Kim by elevating these heart-wrenching tales of loss to the international stage in hopes of pushing Pyongyang to end its provocative behavior toward American allies in the region.
“I think it would be a tremendous signal if Kim Jong-un would send them back. If he would send them back, that would be the start of something very special,” he said.
Despite the bonhomie, trade between the two nations continued to be a point of friction, with Trump earlier Monday blasting ties as “not fair and open,” saying that Japan had been “winning” for decades at the expense of the United States.
Trump can expect a less warm welcome from his next hosts in South Korea, where his relationship with President Moon Jae-in is cooler.
After that, he heads for Beijing for crunch talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. —Reports from AFP and AP