Trump, Abe discuss North Korea's 'grave and growing' threat


President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke Monday about North Korea's weapons, and "agreed that North Korea poses a grave and growing direct threat to the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and other countries near and far," the White House said in a statement.
The 50-minute phone call came after North Korea on Friday tested, for the second time this month, a long-range missile. "International society, including Russia and China, need to take this seriously and increase pressure," Abe told reporters after the conversation. A spokesman for Japan's Chief Cabinet said Trump and Abe did not speak about military action against North Korea, or what "red line" North Korea would have to cross to escalate the situation.
On Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley released a statement saying Washington is "done talking about North Korea," Reuters reports, and any Security Council resolution that "does not significantly increase the international pressure on North Korea is of no value."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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