U.S., Japan, South Korea huddle in Annapolis to chart strategy as Biden’s North Korea policy review wraps up

April 2, 2021

Washington Examiner:

 

1ST TRILATERAL TALKS: In what the White House says is the first such meeting of its kind, the national security advisers from the United States, Japan, and South Korea meet today at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis to coordinate their efforts to convince North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to give up his nuclear arsenal and long-range ballistic missile program.

The trilateral meeting of allies comes a week after North Korea resumed missile tests after a self-imposed yearlong moratorium, including the launch last week of two short-range missiles in violation of U.N. resolutions, and as the Biden administration is wrapping its policy review of its plan to restart denuclearization talks with Pyongyang.

No public statements are planned following the private sessions between Jake Sullivan and his national security counterparts, Shigeru Kitamura of Japan and Suh Hoon of South Korea. A senior Biden administration official characterized the talks as “final consultations” as the U.S. policy review is “in its final stages.”

“I think the most important reason for this trilateral is it will give Jake and our team the opportunity to review and discuss our policy review on North Korea,” the official said. “I think it’d be fair to say that each of these countries are intensively interested in our planned way forward, and we intend to discuss that in some detail”…

 

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