As Vice President Pence began his two-stop Asia trip on Wednesday, he highlighted America's ties with longtime U.S. allies in the region, Japan and South Korea. "I look forward to reinforcing the important priority that President Trump and the United States places on the relationships with these two nations," Pence said during a refueling stop on his way to Japan. Both Japan and South Korea are considered cornerstones of U.S. security and economic relationships in Asia. But the relationship with one is going more smoothly than with the other. The U.S. and Japan both favor hard-line policies toward the North Korean regime in Pyongyang. On Wednesday, Pence announced the U.S. would again ramp up economic sanctions aimed at starving the regime of resources. On this approach, the U.S. and Japan have stayed in lockstep. "It's all about pressure; it's all about military might. Strong posture, and very negative about dialogue," says Koichi Nakano, a professor of political science at Tokyo's
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