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Japanese defense minister sounds alarm on North Korea

CLARK, Philippines — Japan’s defense minister asserted Monday that North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities have grown to an ‘‘unprecedented, critical, and imminent’’ level, requiring ‘‘different responses’’ to the threat.

The minister, Itsunori Odonera, said this rising threat compels his country to endorse the US view that ‘‘all options’’ must be considered, which President Trump says includes possible military action.

Japan has been alarmed by North Korea twice launching missiles over Japanese territory, in August and in September.

Odonera’s comments, made through an interpreter, came at the outset of a so-called trilateral meeting in the Philippines with US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and South Korea’s defense minister, Song Young-moo. Each made statements about North Korea before a group of reporters and news cameras, but none took questions.

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Fresh off a decisive election victory, Japanese Prime Minister Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged Monday to tackle what he called two national crises: the military threat from North Korea and an aging and shrinking population.

Abe said at a Tokyo news conference that he is committed to protect the Japanese people’s prosperity and peace from any contingency. He also referred to Japanese people who were abducted years ago and are believed to still be held by North Korea.

‘‘I will pursue decisive and strong diplomacy to tackle North Korea’s missile, nuclear, and abduction issues and put further pressure to get it to change its policy,’’ he said.

Abe said Japan’s decreasing, aging population is ‘‘the biggest challenge’’ for his policy aimed at Japan’s economic recovery from deflation

Abe’s ruling coalition got voters’ endorsement to stay in power in Sunday’s elections for Japan’s more powerful lower house of Parliament.

Mattis was in the Philippines to attend portions of a two-day meeting of defense ministers from the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He used the occasion to hold a three-way meeting with his counterparts from Japan and South Korea.

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He is scheduled later in the week to travel to Seoul to attend annual consultative talks with the South Korean government, which are expected to focus mostly on North Korea.

In remarks that were notably explicit about the North Korean threat, Odonera said its most recent underground nuclear test could have been a hydrogen bomb, which is vastly more powerful than an atomic bomb.

‘‘The country has steadfastly improved its nuclear and missiles capability,’’ said Odonera. He added: ‘‘The threat posed by North Korea has grown to the unprecedented, critical and imminent level.’’

‘‘Therefore, we have to take calibrated and different responses to meet that level of threat,’’ he said, without elaborating on what ‘‘different’’ responses Japan favors.

Trump has said he will resolve the North Korea problem alone if necessary, to prevent the North from gaining the capability to attack the United States with a nuclear-armed missile.

Mattis was somewhat more reserved in his remarks than Odonera, although he did slam Pyongyang for defying UN Security Council resolutions against its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. But the US defense secretary did not mention any potential military action.

Mattis instead emphasized a unified US-Japan-South Korea position in pressuring the North to give up its nuclear program.

‘‘North Korea’s provocations threaten regional and global security,’’ he said.

Earlier in the day, Mattis used the opportunity to personally apologize to his Indonesia counterpart for an unexplained move by the US government to prevent the top Indonesian general traveling to Washington over the weekend.

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Erin McKee, deputy US ambassador to Indonesia, did not explain why General Gatot Nurmantyo was prevented from boarding a flight to the United States to attend a conference of military chiefs, but said the matter had been resolved.

South Korea’s defense minister, Song, said that North Korea’s behavior is ‘‘becoming worse and worse.’’

He said defense ministers bring a special perspective that cautions against an early use of force.

‘‘As defense ministers who are in charge of national defense and other high-tech weapons such as ballistic missiles, we understand the very weight of engaging in a war, and as such we will make all the efforts necessary to resolve the issue in a diplomatic and economic way . . . However, if we are attacked then we will have to take firm actions.’’