U.S., Japan step up defense cooperation to counter N.Korea

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - The United States and Japan will step up their defense cooperation to deal with the threat from nuclear-armed North Korea as tensions in East Asia remain high, officials from the two allies said yesterday.

“For this threat of North Korea, at this meeting we agreed to increase the pressure and to strengthen the alliance capability,” Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said after talks with senior U.S. officials in Washington.

U.S. fears about North Korea’s missile and nuclear bomb programs have grown in recent weeks. Pyongyang has said it was considering plans to fire missiles toward the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, although North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears to have delayed the decision.

U.S. Defense Mattis, Secretary Secretary Jim of State Rex Tillerson and their Japanese counterparts agreed at a meeting in Washington on Thursday to work more closely on North Korea.

“In light of the threat of North Korea, the four of us confirmed the importance of the unwavering U.S. commitment to extended deterrence,” Onodera said.

Tillerson said the United States wanted dialogue with Pyongyang, but only if it were meaningful.

“Our effort is to cause them to want to engage in talks but engage in talks with an understanding that these talks will lead to a different conclusion than talks of the past,” he said.

In 2005, North Korea reached an agreement with six countries to suspend its nuclear program in return for diplomatic rewards and energy assistance but the deal later collapsed.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned North Korea last week it would face “fire and fury” if it threatened the United States, prompting North Korea to say it was considering plans to fire missiles toward Guam.

Both sides have since dialed back the rhetoric somewhat.

Trump has vowed not to allow North Korea to develop nuclear missiles that could hit the mainland United States but Pyongyang sees its nuclear arsenal as protection against the United States and its partners in Asia.

Pyongyang’s deputy U.N. ambassador told United Nations SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres this week that its nuclear weapons program will never be up for negotiation as long as the U.S. government’s “hostile policy and nuclear threat continue.”

Guterres spoke by telephone with Deputy Ambassador Kim In Ryong on Tuesday, the North Korean mission to the United Nations said in a statement on Thursday.