Trump abruptly schedules talks with Xi and Abe, as tensions mount over North Korea

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US President Donald Trump waves as he and China's President Xi Jinping walk along the front patio of the Mar-a-Lago estate after a bilateral meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 7. The two presidents are scheduled to have a phone conversation on Sunday amid tensions surrounding North Korea. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:33am, 24 Apr 2017Updated: 6:33am, 24 Apr 2017

US President Donald Trump has scheduled telephone conversations with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping, a White House official said, amid heightened tensions surrounding North Korea.

The topics of the Sunday-night (Monday morning, Hong Kong time) conversations, which were abruptly added to Trump’s agenda, were not announced. But they come as Pyongyang is thought to be preparing to conduct further test-firings of missiles or a sixth nuclear test, possibly on the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army on Tuesday.

Trump and his senior officials have said that all options, including military action, are “on the table” in dealing with North Korea’s pursuit of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, which violates UN Security Council resolutions.

The White House will also hold a briefing for senators with its “four principals” on North Korea as the administration considers its options for dealing with Pyongyang.

President Donald Trump, right, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the White House in Washington, D.C. on February 10. Photo: TNS

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will attend the meeting planned for April 26, the White House said in an advance schedule.

Over the weekend, North Korea detained a US citizen who’d been teaching at a university there as he was leaving the country, according to media reports that cited officials with the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang. Three Americans are now being held in the isolated nation.