TOKYO -- Wrapping up a visit before flying to South Korea, President Donald Trump called for Japan to buy U.S. anti-missile batteries to counter the growing ballistic missile threat from North Korea, saying buying more U.S. military equipment would create more jobs for Americans and increase security for the Japanese.
By turns generous and challenging, Trump saluted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as among his best friends in the club of world leaders. But he railed against what he said were chronic trade imbalances with Japan. And he implicitly acknowledged his disappointment that Abe did not shoot down missiles that North Korea recently fired over Japan.
"He will shoot them out of the sky when he completes the purchase of lots of additional military equipment from the United States," Trump said, standing alongside Abe at the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo. "The prime minister of Japan is going to be purchasing massive amounts of military equipment, as he should."
"It's a lot of jobs for us and a lot of safety for Japan," the president added.
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The Japanese government already buys a lot of U.S. military hardware, Abe said, but he agreed that the country should "enhance our defense capability."
"Missile defense is something based on cooperation between Japan and the U.S.," he said. "If it is necessary" to shoot down a missile, "of course we will do that."
Trump steered clear of the language about North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong Un, that he has used in the past. But he defended his use of such confrontational language, suggesting that the reluctance of his predecessors to make such statements had emboldened Kim.
"Some people said that my rhetoric is very strong, but look what's happened with very weak rhetoric over the last 25 years," Trump said. "Look where we are right now."
Abe endorsed Trump's skepticism of talks with North Korea.
"For more than 20 some years, the international community attempted dialogue with North Korea," he said. "Now is the time not for dialogue but for applying a maximum level of pressure on North Korea."
The two also met with families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea, some of whom were kidnapped when they were children.
"No child should ever be subjected to such cruelty," Trump said.
Trump called on Kim to return Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang, saying that doing so would be "a tremendous signal" and the "start of something very special."
The president refused to rule out eventual military action against the north, however, and exhorted dictator Kim to stop weapons testing, calling the recent launches of missiles over Japanese territory "a threat to the civilized world and international peace and stability."
"We will not stand for that," Trump said. "The era of strategic patience is over."
TRADE RELATIONSHIP
Trump's remarks came on a day of high pomp and plain-spoken politics. Before midday, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko welcomed Trump and his wife, Melania, at the imperial residence. Afterward, the president was formally received by Abe on a red carpet at Akasaka Palace, a neo-Baroque building that resembles Buckingham Palace. The two men inspected an honor guard, glittering in gold braid, their rifles fixed with bayonets.
Earlier, however, Trump used a breakfast meeting of Japanese and American business executives to deliver a critique of the trade relationship between the two countries. Japan, he said, bought virtually no cars from the United States while exporting millions of vehicles to the U.S.
"Try building your cars in the United States instead of shipping them over," Trump said, overlooking the fact that Japanese carmakers have built huge assembly plants in the United States. "That's not too much to ask," he continued. "Is that rude to ask?"
In somewhat gentler terms, Trump told Abe that the United States was seeking a new kind of trade relationship. Though he praised the Japanese economy, the president added, "I don't know if it's as good as ours. I think not, OK?" he said. "And we're going to try to keep it that way, and you'll be second."
Abe reacted mildly to reports in the Japanese media that Trump was dismayed by Japan's decision not to shoot down missiles North Korea fired over Japanese territory in August and September. The missiles flew over the island of Hokkaido before landing harmlessly in the sea.
In conversations with other Asian leaders, a senior U.S. official said, Trump asked why a country of "samurai warriors" did not shoot down the missiles, which the North Koreans launched in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Japan had tracked the missiles North Korea fired over Japan, Abe said, and would have shot them down if they had posed a threat to Japanese citizens.
Legally, the question is even more complicated. Japan can only intercept a missile if its citizens are in danger or if there is an attack on an allied country that could jeopardize Japan's security, said Noboru Yamaguchi, professor of international relations at the International University of Japan in Niigata.
Since North Korea has so far only conducted missile tests -- as opposed to launching missiles armed with live warheads -- Japan does not have the legal right to intercept them, he said.
BURDEN-SHARING
As part of his Asia tour, Trump will visit South Korea, where he will forgo the customary trip to the demilitarized zone separating north and south. Instead, Trump planned to visit Camp Humphreys, a military base about 40 miles south of Seoul.
U.S. and South Korean officials have said the base visit is meant to underscore the countries' ties and South Korea's commitment to contributing to its own defense. Burden-sharing is a theme Trump has stressed ever since his presidential campaign.
Trump and South Korea's liberal president, Moon Jae-in, agree on the need to pressure the North with sanctions and other deterrence measures. But Trump has warned of unleashing "fire and fury," threatened to "totally destroy" the North, if necessary, and repeatedly insisted that all options are on the table. Moon, meanwhile, favors dialogue as the best strategy for defusing the nuclear tension and vehemently opposes a potential military clash that could cause enormous casualties in South Korea.
Trump backed up his strong words about North Korea by sending a budget request to Congress on Monday for $4 billion to support "additional efforts to detect, defeat, and defend against any North Korean use of ballistic missiles against the United States, its deployed forces, allies, or partners."
And as he departed for South Korea, he tweeted that Moon is "a fine gentleman," adding, "We will figure it all out!"
Trump will spend today in meetings with Moon, hold a joint press conference and be feted at a state dinner.
Trade also is expected to be a major topic of discussion: Trump has considered pulling out of the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, blaming it for the U.S.-South Korea trade deficit.
Information for this article was contributed by Mark Landler and Julie Hirschfeld Davis of The New York Times; by Brian Bennett of Tribune News Service; and by Jill Colvin and Jonathan Lemire of The Associated Press.
A Section on 11/07/2017