Korea JoongAng Daily is reporting that senior diplomats from South Korea, Japan and the US have called for all diplomatic options to be exhausted in their joint efforts to convince North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program at a meeting held in Seoul on Wednesday.
Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam, US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama reportedly held a joint press conference after a trilateral meeting at the Foreign Ministry in central Seoul, the first of its kind since the onset of President Moon Jae-in’s administration.
Lim told reporters that they “shared a review of the current situation and agreed to make all possible diplomatic efforts, including sanctions and dialogue, through close coordination among the three countries.”
JoongAng says he stressed that the three nations agreed to manage the situation on the Korean peninsula in a stable manner while simultaneously continuing their pressure on the North.
Sullivan likewise said Washington is “dedicated to the campaign of pressure” on North Korea against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s remarks last month that he is ready to “totally destroy” North Korea during a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York.
The US deputy secretary of state said that Trump had “made clear that all options are on the table with the unpredictable regime in Pyongyang, we have to be prepared for all contingencies,” adding, “We undertake those preparations in close consultations with our allies in Tokyo, Seoul and elsewhere.”