US, Japan, South Korea reaffirm commitment to North Korea's nuclear-free future

In a joint statement issued on Saturday, the United States, Japan, and South Korea reaffirmed their “resolute” commitment to work towards the “complete denuclearisation” of North Korea.

The remark came after newly appointed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with South Korean Foreign Minister Choe Tae-yul and Japan’s top diplomat Takeshi Iwaya on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

“The Secretary and Foreign Ministers reaffirmed their resolute commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in accordance with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs),” it said.

“They expressed their serious concerns over and the need to address together the DPRK’s nuclear and missile programs, malicious cyber activities including cryptocurrency thefts, and increasing military cooperation with Russia,” it added.

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The three sent a “strong warning” that they “will not tolerate any provocations or threats to their homelands,” and vowed to maintain and strengthen international sanctions against Pyongyang.

They also said they were committed to “the immediate resolution of the issues of abductees, detainees, and unrepatriated prisoners of war as well as the issue of separated families”.

Largely cut off from the world diplomatically and economically, and under a bevy of sanctions, North Korea with its ongoing nuclear weapons programme has been a major thorn in the side of the United States for years.

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President Donald Trump, who had a rare series of meetings with Kim Jong Un during his first term in office, has said he will reach out again to the North Korean leader, calling Kim a “smart guy”.

Despite Trump’s diplomatic overtures, North Korea said in January that its nuclear programme would continue “indefinitely”.

Pyongygang also said earlier this month it would not tolerate any “provocation” by the United States after Rubio called it a “rogue state” in a radio interview.

It has also slammed a visit by a US nuclear submarine to a naval base in South Korea this month as a “hostile military act”.

A summit between Trump and Kim in Hanoi collapsed in 2019 over talks on sanctions relief and what Pyongyang would be willing to give up in return.