Trump strikes hard line against N. Korea in Japan
TOKYO — President Donald Trump struck a hard line against North Korea’s nuclear weapons program Monday and urged Japan to do the same as he closed out two days of talks, dinner and golf with ally Japan.
The president refused to rule out eventual military action against the north and exhorted dictator Kim Jong Un to stop weapons testing, calling the recent launches of missiles over Japanese territory “a threat to the civilized world and international peace and stability.”
“We will not stand for that,” Trump said at news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “The era of strategic patience is over. Some people say my rhetoric is very strong but look what has happened with very weak rhetoric in the last 25 years.”
The president did not deny reports he was frustrated Japan did not shoot down a ballistic missile North Korea recently fired over its territory. Trump said that Abe “will shoot ’em out of the sky when he completes the purchase of lots of additional military equipment from the United States.”
Japan’s constitution was revised after World War II to renounce war, and the country spends about 1 percent of its GDP on defense. Abe has tried to remove some of the pacifist constraints and is seeking money to purchase upgraded SM3 interceptors with greater accuracy and range, as well as other missile defense systems.
