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| Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Donald Trump |
PALM BEACH, Florida (Kyodo) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump responded in a united, albeit vague, manner Saturday to the latest ballistic missile launch by North Korea.
"President Trump has just made it clear in our leaders' summit that the United States is with Japan 100 percent at all times, and he is standing next to me right now in order to demonstrate that will," Abe said in an impromptu joint press announcement following their working dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago vacation estate in Florida.
Trump refrained from mentioning North Korea or the missile launch of a few hours earlier, uttering only a single comment about the United States standing by Japan.
"I just want everybody to understand and fully know that the United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100 percent," Trump said.
Abe and Trump had been having dinner at Trump's vacation estate in Palm Beach, Florida, having spent the day playing golf nearby. Shortly before the dinner, the South Korean military said North Korea had fired a ballistic missile in the direction of the Sea of Japan, the first such launch since Trump took office on Jan. 20.
Abe also called the launch "absolutely intolerable," repeating the Japanese government's position that North Korea must fully comply with the relevant U.N. resolutions.
The leaders did not take questions.
Read the full story at The Mainichi