U.S., Japan agree China should play larger role on North Korea

TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed on Tuesday that the two countries need to persuade China to play a larger role in dealing with North Korea, a Japanese government spokesman said. The two confirmed during a working lunch that China's role was important in dealing with North Korea, and they needed to work on China to take on a bigger role, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda told reporters. North Korea has conducted a series of ballistic missile launches in recent months in defiance of U.N. sanctions and concerns have been growing that the reclusive state could soon conduct a sixth nuclear test. With a U.S. aircraft carrier group steaming to the area in a show of force, fears of a confrontation have been rising. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Robert Birsel)