News / Foreign Policy

Trump to Japanese PM: North Korean question 'will be solved'

Friday, 26 May 2017 12:56 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 26 May 2017 12:59 PM ]

(L-R) President of the European Council Donald Tusk, US President Donald Trump, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker watch an Italian flying squadron as they attend the Summit of the Heads of State and of Government of the G7, the group of most industrialized economies, plus the European Union, on May 26, 2017 in Taormina, Sicily. (Photo by AFP)

US President Donald Trump has assured Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that the question of North Korea "will be solved,” ahead of a G7 summit that will discuss a series of missile tests carried out by Pyongyang.

"We will be discussing many things including of course North Korea which is very much on our minds," Trump said on Friday in the Italian town of Taormina where he held a meeting with Abe at the start of the two-day G7 summit.

"It's a big problem, it's a world problem,” the US president said.

“It will be solved, you can bet on that," he added, without offering further details.

US President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a bilateral meeting at the Villa Diodoro on the sidelines of the Summit of the Heads of State and of Government of the G7, the group of most industrialized economies, plus the European Union, on May 26, 2017 in Taormina, Sicily. (Photo by AFP)

Japanese PM Abe said he would highlight the danger posed by North Korea at the G7 summit.

"The issue of North Korea is a grave threat not only to East Asia but also to the world," he told reporters before leaving Tokyo, calling on the group of industrialized economies to act "resolutely".

Trump has warned that a “major conflict” with North Korea is “absolutely” possible in the ongoing standoff over its nuclear and missile programs.

And, according to reports, the trump administration is considering a range of military actions against the country. But US Democrats have warned Trump not to launch an attack against the North.

A group of 64 Democrats concerned with breakout of war with the nuclear power said in a letter on Tuesday that any preemptive attack should be approved by the US Congress ahead of being operationalized, The New York Times reported.

“Few decisions are more needing of debate than a move to launch attacks, or declare war, on a nuclear-armed state such as North Korea,” read the letter. "In such a volatile region, an inconsistent or unpredictable policy runs the risk of unimaginable conflict.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meets with his military officers. (file photo)

They also asked the Trump administration to present evidence of a policy aimed at boosting prospects of negotiations with Pyongyang.

Tensions have been running high on the Korean Peninsula over the North’s nuclear and missile programs, which Pyongyang sees as a deterrent against a potential invasion by its adversaries.

The Trump administration has sent an aircraft carrier and a nuclear-powered submarine to the region in a show of force.

Pyongyang has threatened the US with a nuclear attack in case of a direct military action, and has indicated that weapons tests would continue more frequently.

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