Trump, Abe vow to take 'all necessary measures' to protect allies from N Korea

The US President and Japanese Prime Minister held a telephone call on Monday and agreed on the need for more measures aimed at curbing the country's military ambitions, just hours after America's ambassador to the United Nations said Washington was "done talking about North Korea". Abe told reporters after his conversation with Trump on Monday that repeated efforts by the international community to find a peaceful solution to the North Korean issue had yet to deter Pyongyang.

"International society, including Russia and China, need to take this seriously and increase pressure," he said.

 Abe added that he backed Trump's "commitment to taking all necessary measures to protect allies". The pair did not discuss military action against North Korea, nor what would constitute the crossing of a "red line" by Pyongyang, Deputy Chief Cabinet spokesman Koichi Hagiuda said.

A White House statement after the phone call said the two leaders "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". It said Trump "reaffirmed our ironclad commitment" to defend Japan and South Korea from any attack, "using the full range of United States capabilities".

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the talk between Abe and Trump lasted for about 50 minutes.

"The role that China can play is extremely important," he told a news conference.

"Japan intends to call on those countries involved - including the UN, the United States and South Korea to start, but also China and Russia - to take on additional duties and actions to increase pressure," he said.North Korea said on Saturday it had conducted another successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that proved its ability to strike the US mainland, drawing a sharp warning from Trump and a rebuke from China.

The US President later wrote on Twitter that he was "very disappointed" in China.

State-run Chinese newspaper the Global Times said in an editorial on Monday that Trump's "wrong tweet" was of no help, and that the President did not understand the issues.

Pyongyang is determined to develop its nuclear and missile programme and does not care about military threats.