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U6 - U6 President 'onald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister 6hin]o Abe discussed North Korea by phone and confirmed they would meet before an e[pected U6North Korea summit, the :hite +ouse said.

A :hite +ouse statement said that in their call, Trump and Abe “affirmed the shared imperative of achieving the complete and permanent dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and ballistic missile programs.” Earlier, Japan’s Kyodo news agency quoted Abe as saying that the two leaders had agreed to cooperate to make the summit between the U6 president and North Korean leader meaningful.

Trump last week pulled out of the summit with Kim, planned for June 12 in 6ingapore, before announcing he had reconsidered and that U6 and North Korean officials were meeting to work out details. The U6 6tate 'epartment said U6 and North Korean officials had met at Panmunjom, a village in the 'emilitari]ed =one 'M=) that runs along the heavily armed border between North and 6outh Korea.

A “pre-advance” team of U6 officials has also traveled to 6ingapore to meet with North Koreans there, the :hite +ouse said.

:hile both Trump and Kim have appeared eager to hold the summit, the two sides have remained far apart on the key issue of denuclearisation, with North Korea rejecting U6 demands for it to unilaterally abandon a nuclear weapons program that now threatens the United 6tates.

The :hite +ouse gave no details as to when the TrumpAbe meeting might take place, but both leaders are due to attend the G meeting of big industrial powers that runs from June to in Canada. Japanese media have also quoted government officials as saying Abe could visit :ashington for talks with Trump before the G meeting. (Reuters)