On Wednesday, the foreign minister of Japan said in a statement that he personally regrets the departure of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson amid sensitive times for North Korea related issues.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono described Tillerson as frank and trustworthy, adding that Tillerson would have dealt well with North Korea issues.
“He (Tillerson) was a frank, trustworthy counterpart and I thought we would deal with the North Korea issue together, but personally, I feel that this situation that has developed is unfortunate,” Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told reporters in Tokyo.
“For sure, America holds the key, so I want to meet his successor as secretary of state soon and exchange views on North Korea and other matters,” Kono said.
Tillerson was fired by Trump on Tuesday as result of the disagreements over policy on North Korea, Iran and Russia.
Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo, who is seen as a hard loyalist to Trump and shares similar views on foreign policy, was named the new Secretary of State.
Reuters reported that many critics expressed dismay at the decision to swap out top diplomats so soon before the unprecedented potential meeting between Kim and Trump, and worried that Pompeo would encourage Trump to be hawkish on North Korea.
Although an official said earlier that she would cancel the visit, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will still be doing the planned trip to Washington to discuss North Korea despite Tillerson’s departure, the ministry said in a text message.
Meanwhile, other South Korean officials said that while Pompeo is known to have hardline views on North Korea, he seems to know how to compromise.
“We’re aware that Pompeo was one of the strongest voices in the talk of military action and fed Trump related assessments, but things have since changed a lot,” one senior official said, referring to upcoming inter-Korean talks and the prospect of a Kim-Trump summit. “So, we will see.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang stated that China hopes the change in personnel is not going to affect the development of relations and hurt important areas of cooperation.
“We, of course, hope that the positive momentum on the Korean Peninsula, including the political will for talks of both the United States and North Korea, will be maintained,” Lu told a daily news briefing.
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