TOKYO,Japan (Reuters) — United States Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday (April 18) that “all options are on the table” when it comes to North Korea, but that the US will work closely with Japan and its allies in aiming for a peaceful resolution to the reclusive state’s nuclear and missile ambitions.
Pence, who arrived in Tokyo from South Korea earlier in the day, has warned the reclusive North, which has conducted a series of missile launches and nuclear tests in defiance of United Nations sanctions, that the “era of strategic patience” is over.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whom Pence met in Tokyo, added that he agreed with the need for a peaceful settlement, but that “dialogue for the sake of dialogue is meaningless.”
North Korea regularly threatens to destroy Japan, South Korea and the US.
It showed no let-up in its defiance after a failed missile test on Sunday (April 16), a day after it put on a huge display of missiles in Pyongyang.
