Barack Obama describes North Korea as ‘a real threat’ during speech in Tokyo

FORMER US President Barack Obama has said that getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons remains difficult as the rogue nation is “so far out of the international norms”.

FORMER US president Barack Obama says negotiations with North Korea on its nuclear weapons program are difficult, partly because the country’s isolation minimises possible leverage, such as trade and travel sanctions against Pyongyang.

“North Korea is an example of a country that is so far out of the international norms and so disconnected with the rest of the world,” Mr Obama told a packed hall in Tokyo overnight.

He stressed that the effort to get North Korea to give up nuclear weapons remains difficult, but said countries working together, including China, South Korea and Japan, to pressure the North is better than nations working alone.

FBarack Obama shares a laugh with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo. Picture: AFP/Shizuo Kambayashi

He noted that past US efforts on Iran’s nuclear weapons were more successful because there was more leverage, but that there’s little commerce and travel with North Korea to begin with.

“That makes them less subject to these kinds of negotiations,” he said of North Korea.

Mr Obama was speaking at an event sponsored by a Japanese non-profit group during an Asia-Pacific trip that included earlier stops in Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. Mr Obama’s work after leaving office has been focused on nurturing young leaders.

Barack Obama described North Korea as “a threat”, adding the US would prefer to resolve issues “peacefully”. Picture: AFP/KCNA via KNS

Mr Obama, welcomed by a standing ovation, said that the US-Japan alliance remains strong, and that the US is committed to defending Japan.

“North Korea is a real threat,” he said.

“Our view has always been that we would prefer to resolve these issues peacefully,” he said, adding that otherwise “the cost in terms of human life would be significant”.

Barack Obama endeared himself to the Japanese people when he visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in 2016. Picture: AP/Carolyn Kaste

He acknowledged that progress on a nuclear-free world will likely take a long time as long as Russia and the US can’t agree to reduce their stockpiles. Mr Obama also reflected on his 2016 visit to Hiroshima, one of two Japanese cities where the US dropped atomic bombs in the closing days of World War II. His visit was the first by an American president.

The former US president met with Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney last week. Picture: Supplied

Almost all American presidents tend to be relatively popular in Japan, which views the US as its most important ally. But many Japanese particularly appreciate Mr Obama’s efforts on denuclearisation and remember with fondness his trip to Hiroshima and his message of working toward a world without nuclear weapons.

“It was an extraordinarily powerful moment for me,” Mr Obama recalled.