Washington: A senior Trump administration official on Friday reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to the “complete denuclearization of North Korea,” pledging to remain in “lockstep” with South Korea and Japan over diplomacy toward the recalcitrant regime.
According to Yonhap News Agency, in a telephonic press briefing, the official stated that the Trump administration will continue to support trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan, though there might be “some adjustments” regarding the focus of the three-way partnership.
The briefing occurred just hours before U.S. President Donald Trump’s summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, where the two leaders are set to discuss cooperation in defense, critical technologies, investment, cybersecurity, and other areas.
“The Trump administration, just as in the first term, is committed to the complete denuclearization of North Korea. President Trump has voiced his openness to engaging with North Korea,” the official told reporter
s. “We won’t get ahead of that. Obviously, it takes two to tango in those situations, but we will remain in lockstep with our partners, both Japan and South Korea, among others, as we move forward on that.”
The official’s remarks helped assuage concerns that South Korea could be sidelined or bypassed from Trump’s potential outreach to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, given that Seoul continues to experience political uncertainty following now-impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched martial law bid in December.
During a Fox News interview last month, Trump mentioned his intention to reach out to Kim, describing the reclusive leader as a “smart guy.”
On trilateral cooperation among Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo, the official highlighted that during the first Trump administration, there were three trilateral leader-level meetings on the margins of multilateral forums. This underscores Trump’s contribution to fostering tripartite ties with the two Asian treaty allies.
“The Trump administration continues to
support trilateral efforts and some of the working groups that have emerged from those over the last few years,” the official said. “There may be some adjustments to where the focus is on trilateral cooperation, but I think largely you will see continuity.”
The official’s comments on the trilateral partnership came amid questions over whether the Trump administration would inherit the three-way cooperation efforts. These efforts have deepened since former President Joe Biden hosted the landmark Camp David summit with Yoon and then Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The Camp David summit, the first-ever standalone three-way summit among the leaders, produced a series of agreements, including the “Commitment to Consult” each other in the event of a shared security threat. Since the summit, the three sides have launched a system for the real-time sharing of North Korean ballistic missile warning data, created a trilateral military exercise named “Freedom Edge,” and installed a trilateral secretariat to ins
titutionalize their cooperation.