SEOUL: US Vice President Mike Pence arrives in Tokyo on Tuesday bringing a renewed commitment to Japan’s security amid a growing threat from a nuclear armed North Korea.
Throughout his bareknuckle election campaign, US President Donald Trump repeatedly called into question a mutual defense treaty between Japan and the United States, suggesting Tokyo should pay for its own security.
But now, Pence will try to reassure his jittery hosts that those decades-old security commitments are ironclad, a necessity made more acute as tensions rise over Pyongyang’s latest missile test and Washington’s refusal to rule out military action against the regime.
North Korea could react to a potential US strike by targeting South Korea or Japan, and officials in Tokyo and Seoul have been ill at ease with the more bellicose language deployed by Trump’s administration. (APP)