Japan minister sees unity with Trump, pressure on N. Korea

TOKYO – Japan's new foreign minister says he sees no major shifts or divisions with the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.

Taro Kono, who was appointed earlier this month, says his talks with top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty, were solid.

He also told reporters Tuesday that continued pressure on North Korea, not talks, are needed now to get it to give up its nuclear weapons program.

Rhetoric between Washington and North Korea has heated up since the North's two intercontinental ballistic missile tests last month.

Kono accused North Korea of using talks in the past to buy time, and said that "loopholes" in the latest U.N. sanctions on the North need to be dealt with instead.