Trump discusses North Korea with Japan's Abe after tests

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he had spoken with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about North Korea and trade after North Korea raised doubts about the future of denuclearization dialogue with new weapons tests. In a tweet, Trump described his talk with Abe, a close ally, as a “Very good conversation!” but gave no other details. Trump and his administration have played down the North Korean weapons tests, which took place on Saturday, and which military analysts say could have involved short-range, ground-to-ground ballistic missiles. Abe told reporters the United States and Japan would “respond together” to North Korea “going forward.” If the weapons were ballistic missiles, they would have been the first fired by North Korea since its 2017 freeze in nuclear and missile testing opened the way for dialogue with the United States and South Korea.