The Free Press Journal

Trump, Abe and Moon meet over missile launch

-

"W e will take care of it. It is a situation we will handle,"

PREZ TRUMP

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday held emergency talks with his South Korean counterpar­t Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to discuss their collective response to the latest provocativ­e North Korean missile test.

North Korea test-fired what appeared to be an interconti­nental ballistic missile, posing a major challenge to Trump after he slapped fresh sanctions on Pyongyang and declared it a state sponsor of terrorism. The missile was launched from Sain Ni, North Korea, and traveled about 1000 km before splashing down in the Sea of Japan, within Japan's Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ).

Asserting that he will "take care of" the situation in the aftermath of the North Korean ballistic missile test, Trump held separate calls with Abe and Moon to discuss their collective response to the latest provocativ­e behaviour by Pyongyang, reports PTI.

"We will take care of it. It is a situation we will handle," Trump told in the Roosevelt room of the White House soon after North Korea's ballistic missile test.

In both the phone calls, the leaders underscore­d the grave threat that North Korea's latest provocatio­n poses not only to the US, South Korea, Japan and the entire world. They reaffirmed their strong condemnati­on of North Korea's reckless campaign to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, noting that these weapons only serve to undermine North Korea's security and deepen its diplomatic and economic isolation, the White House said.

US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, told reporters that the missile this time went higher than any previous time. "Their Research and Developmen­t effort on their part they seem to be developing missiles that can reach anywhere in the world...in response South Korea has launched pinpoint missiles out into the water to make certain North Korea understand­s they could be under fire from our ally," he said. US Vice President Mike Pence said that all options are on the table. "We will continue to marshall economic and diplomatic pressure until North Korea abandons its nuclear and ballistic missile programs once and for all," Pence said in his Hudson Institute 2017 Herman Kahn Award Dinner.

"The Kim (North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un) regime in North Korea would do well not to test the resolve of President Trump or the capabiliti­es of the Armed Forces of the United States," he said. In New York, Permanent Representa­tive of the US to the UN, Nikki Haley, along with her counterpar­ts from Japan and South Korea requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting to be held in the open chamber in response to North Korea's latest test of an interconti­nental ballistic missile. The Security Council session will be held on November 29, around 4:30 pm EST, a media release said.Strongly condemning the missile launch, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said North Korea's relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them must be reversed.

 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from India