Japan-United States of America Relations

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who is visiting New York to attend the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, held a Japan-U.S. Summit Meeting with the Honorable Donald Trump, President of the United States of America on September 21. The meeting which commenced at around 1:30 p.m. (local time) lasted for approximately one hour. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. President Trump began the meeting by praising Prime Minister Abe for the great working he’s doing for the citizens of Japan. The President noted that great progress was made between Japan and the United States on both the North Korea issue and in the field of trade, and expressed the view that the Japan-U.S. relationship has never been closer.
2. Prime Minister Abe expressed his gratitude to President Trump’s mention of Ms. Megumi Yokota in his remarks to the UN General Assembly, indicating it was an extremely encouraging message for Ms. Yokota’s parents and the families of other abduction victims. Prime Minister Abe expressed the view the key in dealing with the North Korea issue is to bring about change in North Korea’s policies, and that dialogue for the sake of dialogue is meaningless. He emphasized that it would be important to exert greater pressure against North Korea, and the fact that he and President Trump have together been able to demonstrate their strong intent thus far will lead to a concerted response from the international community, and he hopes to further deepen discussions with President Trump.
3. The two leaders discussed the situation concerning North Korea. They once again shared the view that a series of provocative actions including North Korea’s ballistic missile launch on August 29 as well as on September 15 and its nuclear test on September 3 constitute an unprecedented, grave and imminent threat to the international community including Japan and the United States. They confirmed that the U.S. commitment to defend Japan through the full range of U.S. military capabilities, both nuclear and conventional, is unwavering, and that Japan and the United States are 100% together.
4. The two leaders welcomed the recent adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2375. They affirmed the importance of continued cooperation between Japan and the United States, trilateral cooperation between Japan, the United States, and the Republic of Korea, as well as to urge relevant countries including China and Russia to secure the full implementation of the resolution and to further work on maximizing the pressure against North Korea. Furthermore, the two leaders shared the view that Japan and the United States will work together to urge regions where there are a large number of foreign workers from North Korea and those that continue to trade with North Korea to cut off the flow of capital to North Korea, and will urge countries that have “diplomatic” relationships with North Korea to review their relationships. Prime Minister Abe sought support and cooperation toward the early resolution of the abductions issue, and obtained the support of President Trump.
5. The two leaders also discussed economic matters and confirmed that both sides would accelerate the coordination for the second round of the Japan-U.S. Economic Dialogue due to be held within this year.      
6. Furthermore, the two leaders shared the view that they would continue the coordination for President Trump’s visit to Japan this year.