KYODO NEWS - Aug 31, 2017 - 01:26 | All, World

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in the early hours of Thursday that he and U.S. President Donald Trump have "completely agreed" on their next moves to tackle the threat from North Korea, following the North's launch of a ballistic missile across Japan into the Pacific Ocean.

"I cannot tell you about our forthcoming response to North Korea, but we have just completely agreed on it," Abe told reporters at his office after holding the second telephone call with Trump in as many days.

A senior Japanese official subsequently said the leaders had agreed on the need for stronger pressure to be put on North Korea and for the country to "change its policies."

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura said at an impromptu press conference that Abe and Trump agreed to "continue to work in close coordination, including at the United Nations" over the matter.

North Korea's launch of the missile over northern Japan on Tuesday prompted the U.N. Security Council to unanimously adopt a statement condemning the launch.

Abe spoke with Trump for about 30 minutes around midnight Wednesday, having already affirmed with the leaders of Australia, Britain and South Korea earlier in the day that they will coordinate closely in putting increased pressure on North Korea.

But a stricter U.N. Security Council resolution with further restrictions on North Korea would require wrangling with China and Russia, permanent members of the decision-making body that both have economic dealings with Pyongyang.

Earlier Wednesday, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the government's top spokesman, said an oil embargo is "one of the options" Japan might seek to tighten the international community's vise on North Korea. Nishimura declined to say whether Abe and Trump had discussed such a move.

Trump posted on Twitter shortly before his phone call with Abe that "talking is not the answer" in dealing with North Korea.

According to Nishimura, Abe also told Trump in the late-night phone call that Japan is prepared to offer emergency relief supplies for the southern part of the United States hit by Hurricane Harvey.