The United States, South Korea and Japan on Thursday reiterated their demand for the complete denuclearisation of North Korea, despite Pyongyang’s repeated rejection of the goal and US President Donald Trump’s continued outreach to leader Kim Jong Un.
The three countries’ top diplomats met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Atlanta and reaffirmed their “resolute commitment to the complete denuclearisation” of North Korea, according to a US State Department readout.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi also pledged the “full implementation” of United Nations Security Council resolutions, including measures barring support for North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
The joint statement comes as Trump seeks another meeting with Kim. The US president held a series of summits with the North Korean leader during his first term and has continued to describe him as a “friend.” Last year Trump acknowledged that North Korea was “sort of a nuclear power,” and he has more recently downplayed concerns about its arsenal while expressing interest in renewed talks.
Speculation has grown that the two leaders could meet at next month’s APEC summit in China, which Trump is due to attend. Analysts and South Korea’s intelligence agency believe Kim may have conveyed Pyongyang’s position on potential talks to Beijing during a recent visit to the Chinese border city of Dandong.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has previously suggested that Washington pursue a nuclear freeze rather than immediate elimination in exchange for sanctions relief, an approach critics say risks accepting North Korea as a nuclear-armed state.
North Korea has enshrined its nuclear status in law and declared its arsenal permanent and irreversible. On Saturday, Pyongyang denounced a joint statement by nations monitoring sanctions, saying “the stereotyped sanctions racket of the US and the West can neither influence the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state.”
