Japan welcomes Trump's threat to destroy North Korea

Japan on Wednesday welcomed US President Donald Trump speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in which he vowed to destroy North Korea if the US was compelled to defend itself.

Referring to Trump's maiden speech at the UNGA on Tuesday, government spokesperson Yoshihide Suga said Japan greatly appreciates the US President's renewed confirmation of his policy on North Korea that seeks to change the regime's position and achieve its denuclearisation, Efe news reported.

Trump condemned the Kim Jong-un regime for its nuclear and missile programme and asserted that if the US is "forced to defend ourselves or our allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea".

The Japanese spokesperson also referred to the US President's mention of the abductions of Japanese citizens by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s.

Trump said the regime "kidnapped a sweet, 13-year-old Japanese girl from a beach in her own country to enslave her as a language tutor for North Korea's spies".

Trump was making a reference to Megumi Yokota, who was kidnapped by North Korean agents in 1977 when she was 13 years old, and who later became a symbol of the country's mission to locate at least 17 other Japanese nationals allegedly kidnapped by Pyongyang.