Duterte urges U.S. to reassure N. Korea

MANILA — The U.S. should stop threatening North Korea and instead assure leader Kim Jong-Un that there are no plans to oust him, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump next month.

In a televised speech before leaving for Tokyo, Duterte said the U.S., Japan, China and South Korea should sit down with the North Korean leader to tackle the Pyongyang regime’s weapons development and missile tests. North Korea will be high on the agenda when leaders of the four nations meet their Southeast Asian counterparts in Manila next month, he said.

“Tell him nobody’s threatening him, that there will be no war,” Duterte said, referring to the North Korean leader. “If you can just tone down or stand down, stop the threats, that will be the same for America, just to assure him that nobody is after you.”

The Philippine leader also said he will deal with Trump in the “most righteous way,” adding that he and the U.S. president “move our mouths in the same cadence.”

Duterte said he will discuss the regional threat posed by North Korea in his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today. He will also seek assistance in rebuilding Marawi City, heavily damaged during fighting between government forces and militants affiliated with the Islamic State extremist group, and discuss ways to boost trade between the two nations, he said.