United States Vice President Mike Pence reassured Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday that the US stands behind Japan in the face of a nuclear threat from North Korea.

“We are with you 100 per cent,” Pence told Abe after arriving in Tokyo for a two-day visit.

The premier stressed the need for a peaceful solution to escalating tensions in the region.

President Donald Trump has dispatched a group of US warships to waters off the Korean Peninsula, while Pyongyang is reportedly planning to conduct another nuclear test.

Pence’s visit comes after US strikes in Syria and Afghanistan this month.

“We seek peace always as a country, as does Japan,” Pence said. “But as you know peace comes through strength.”

“President Trump is determined to work closely with Japan, with South Korea with all our allies in the region, and with China, to achieve a peaceable solution and denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula,” said the vice president, who is in on a four-nation tour which will also include stops in Indonesia and Australia.

Abe and Pence agreed to call for Beijing to do more in urging Pyongyang to exercise self-restraint.

Pence arrived in Tokyo after wrapping up his three-day tour to South Korea earlier in the day. During a visit to the Demilitarised Zone between North and South Korea on Monday, he said that “the era of strategic patience is over,” while also saying the U.S. seeks security “through peaceable means.”

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Pence also urged Pyongyang not to test Trump’s resolve nor the strength of the U.S. armed forces in the region.

In New York, North Korea’s deputy UN ambassador Kim In Ryong warned on Monday that a “nuclear war may break out at any moment” on the Korean peninsula, blaming the U.S. for its “dangerous sabre-rattling.”

North Korea made a failed ballistic missile launch attempt on Sunday, a day after Pyongyang marked the 105th anniversary of the birth of the late founding leader Kim Il Sung.

The reclusive state has ramped up its nuclear and missile programmes, carrying out two nuclear tests and launching some 20 ballistic missiles last year alone.

Pence also met Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and the two leaders launched a high-level bilateral economic dialogue, which will serve as a forum for the two countries to discuss a range of topics from economic policy, trade and investment rules to cooperation on energy and infrastructure.

Pence said it is possible the economic dialogue will result in a free trade pact between the two countries, especially after Trump withdrew the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which was signed by 12 Pacific Rim countries, including Japan and Australia, a year ago.

Japan has been unnerved by the president’s harsh words about Tokyo’s trade policy and carmakers such as Toyota.

Japan posted a trade surplus of 6.8 trillion yen (62.6 billion dollars) with the US in 2016, down 4.8 per cent from the previous year. (NAN)