Japanese Prime Minister and Pope discuss nuclear arms after North Korea test

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, centre, speaks to reporters after North Korea fired a ballistic missile amid rising animosities (Sadayuki Goto/Kyodo News/AP)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with Pope Francis and top Vatican officials in talks about the need for “a world free of nuclear weapons”, the Vatican said.

The meeting came as nuclear-armed Russia pressed its war in Ukraine and after North Korea launched a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters and vowed to speed up the development of its own nuclear arsenal.