TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday that he and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed on the importance of close coordination over North Korean issues as Pyongyang continues its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
During a 45-minute phone conversation proposed by Washington following a two-day meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida, Abe also told Trump that Tokyo is watching closely how China responds to the issues, the Japanese leader told reporters.
Abe said he and Trump also "frankly exchanged opinions" over the issue of Syria as well as North Korea, following Thursday's U.S. military strike on a Syrian military airfield from which a chemical attack was allegedly launched, killing dozens of civilians including children.
Abe conveyed to his U.S. counterpart Japan's support for "the U.S. resolve to fulfill its responsibility to prevent the proliferation and use of chemical weapons," according to a Japanese official.
Trump responded by saying that the missile attack was intended to make sure chemical weapons will never again be used following the casualties among Syrian civilians, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda said.
Hagiuda, who listened in on the conversation, said Trump did not mention a basis for concluding that the deadly attack was indeed carried out by the Syrian government as claimed.
Read the full story at The Mainichi