President Trump on Tuesday said that “all options are on the table” in dealing with North Korea after the country launched a missile that passed over Japanese airspace hours earlier.
“The world has received North Korea’s latest message loud and clear: This regime has signaled its contempt for its neighbors, for all members of the United Nations, and for minimum standards of acceptable international behavior,” Mr. Trump said in a statement.
“Threatening and destabilizing actions only increase the North Korean regime’s isolation in the region and among all nations of the world. All options are on the table,” the president said.
Mr. Trump spoke by phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe afterward to consult on the next steps.
“The two leaders agreed that North Korea poses a grave and growing direct threat to the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, as well as to countries around the world,” said a readout of the call released by the White House.
“President Trump and Prime Minister Abe committed to increasing pressure on North Korea, and doing their utmost to convince the international community to do the same,” the statement said.
The latest missile over Japanese airspace crash-landed in the Pacific Ocean and was reportedly one of three that were fired. It was the first missile to violate Japanese air space since 2009, and is the latest in a series of provocative missile launches and tests from North Korea.
“This reckless act of launching a missile that flies over our country is an unprecedented, serious and important threat,” Mr. Abe had said after the launch.
Mr. Trump recently said that any more threats to the United States from North Korea would be met with “fire and fury like the world has never seen,” later saying that perhaps even that statement wasn’t tough enough.
Just last week, Mr. Trump told supporters at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, that there were positive signs with North Korea’s weapons program.
“I respect the fact that he is starting to respect us,” Mr. Trump said of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. “And maybe — probably not, but maybe — something positive can come about.”
• Dave Boyer contributed to this article.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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