Trump: Patience with North Korea Has Ended

Donald Trump, the President of the United States, on Monday, November 6, while gaining Japan's agreement to use all options available to contain North Korea's 'recklessness', stated that 'tactical patience' with this country has come to an end. Mr. Trump has previously shown signs of the possibility of the U.S. using measures beyond diplomatic methods in dealing with North Korea's nuclear ambitions. According to AFP, the U.S. President described North Korea's nuclear program as 'a threat to the civilized world and international peace and stability' on the second day of his trip to the crisis-ridden East Asia. Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan, alongside Donald Trump, supported his policy towards Pyongyang, stating, 'All options are on the table.' North Korea has threatened Japan with 'sinking' it and has so far fired several missiles over its territory towards the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The United Nations Security Council has imposed multiple sanctions against North Korea, the latest of which was imposed about two months ago in response to the sixth nuclear test and several missile launches from North Korean territory. The Japanese Prime Minister, in response to North Korea's actions, announced a new sanction against Pyongyang, which includes freezing the assets of 35 individuals and groups from North Korea in Japan. However, tensions between Japan and North Korea are not limited to the nuclear program and missile launches by Pyongyang. According to this report, the Japanese Prime Minister, while describing the new sanctions as a tool to punish North Korea for its weapons program, is also trying to resolve the issue of the abduction of several of his country's citizens in the 1970s and 1980s. During that period, North Korean agents abducted ordinary Japanese people to teach their spies the Japanese language and culture. Donald Trump also promised on Monday, during a meeting with several individuals whose family members are among the abductees, to cooperate with Japan in bringing back the Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea, stating that their return by Pyongyang would be considered 'an extraordinary sign.' The importance of this issue for the Japanese Prime Minister is such that he often wears a small blue ribbon on his clothing to remind others of these abductions. In 2002, North Korea admitted to abducting 13 Japanese civilians, but Tokyo claims the number is at least 17. While North Korea insists that 8 of these 13 have died, a month later, it returned five of them to Japan. Tokyo believes that likely more Japanese citizens have been abducted by North Korea.