Trump Arrives In South Korea: Pyongyang On Hit List
US President Donald Trump in the second leg of his Southeast Asia tour arrived in Seoul today morning with the nuclear ambitions of North Korea high on his agenda.
Trump after his meeting with Japanese PM Abe Shinzo called on Tokyo to buy US antimissile batteries to counter the ever-growing nuclear threat from North Korea.
As soon as Trump landed in the Korean peninsula, he immediately left for Camp Humphreys which is about 40 miles from Seoul, a US military base with 10,000 American Soldiers, where he was also joined by South Korean President Moon Jae- In.
Trump and Abe who gave a joint press statement sounded very approving of each other and new found friendship. Trump referred Abe as a very tough and aggressive PM and Abe endorsed Trump’s skepticism of North Korea.
“You have a very, very aggressive, tough prime minister. That’s a good thing by the way, not a bad thing,” Trump said
“For more than 20 some years, the international community attempted dialogue with North Korea, Now is the time not for dialogue but for applying a maximum level of pressure on North Korea.", Abe said.
The two leaders also met with the families of the Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea in the past, leading to rise in tensions.
Trump will next travel to Beijing on Nov 8. The next leg of his visit will take him to Vietnam on November 10 where he will participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) and will deliver a speech at the APEC CEO Summit highlighting the role, the region plays in advancing America’s economic policy.
On November 11, he will travel to Hanoi for bilateral engagements with President Tran Dai Quang and other senior officials of the Vietnamese government.
In the last leg of his visit, he will travel to the Philippines on Nov 12 and will be present for the 40th-anniversary celebrations of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and participate in bilateral meetings with President Rodrigo Duterte.
