Foreign Minister Taro Kono and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agreed Wednesday to urge North Korea to denuclearize in a "complete, verifiable and irreversible" way while keeping existing U.N. sanctions in place.
After meeting with Pompeo, Kono told reporters that the two foreign ministers will meet again after a U.S.-North Korea summit slated for June 12 in Singapore.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was due to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday in Washington to reaffirm the importance of urging North Korea to abandon all nuclear weapons and missile programs.