Japan, U.S., S. Korea to Work toward N. Korea Denuclearization

Tokyo, July 8 (Jiji Press)--Top diplomats of Japan, the United States and South Korea on Sunday agreed to enhance trilateral cooperation further to realize the full denuclearization of North Korea. At a meeting in Tokyo, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and his U.S. and South Korean counterparts, Mike Pompeo and Kang Kyung-wha, confirmed the policy of achieving the comprehensive, verifiable and irreversible dismantling of all weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear arms, and ballistic missiles. Pompeo briefed Kono and Kang on his two-day meetings with North Korean officials in Pyongyang ended Saturday, in which how to implement the full denuclearization was discussed. At a joint news conference with Kono and Kang, Pompeo said sanctions against North Korea will remain in place until the full denuclearization as promised by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un occurs. Ahead of the three-way meeting, Pompeo met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to discuss bilateral cooperation, including on North Korean issues. Pompeo told Abe that, in Pyongyang, his country "raised a full range of issues with them with respect to their nuclear program, to the abductee issue--all of the issues that I know matter to the United States, Japan, and indeed to the world." Abe also had a meeting with Kang. Speaking to reporters Saturday, Pompeo described his meetings with North Korean officials as "productive." Meanwhile, the Korean Central News Agency carried a North Korean Foreign Ministry statement that blasted the U.S. attitude at the meetings. Japan, the United States and South Korea held a meeting of their foreign heads for the first time since June 14, two days after U.S. President Donald Trump's summit with Kim in Singapore. Pompeo is visiting Japan for the first time since he took office in April. END