Japan, U.S., S. Korea Agree to Keep Pressure on N. Korea

June 4, 2018

Singapore- Japan, the United States and South Korea on Sunday agreed that they will maintain pressure on North Korea to take concrete actions toward its denuclearization.

The policy was confirmed at a meeting among Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis and South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo.

The officials met on the sidelines of the three-day annual Asia Security Summit, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, until Sunday.

The three countries had the discussions to coordinate their views ahead of a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to be held in Singapore on June 12.

Onodera, Mattis and Song also agreed on the continuance of surveillance activities to block ship-to-ship smuggling of items banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions to North Korea.

The officials had a three-way meeting for the first time since October last year, when they gathered in the Philippines.

At the Singapore meeting, Onodera said Tokyo aims to make North Korea abandon all of its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles of all ranges in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.

"It is necessary for the international community to work closely to make North Korea change its policies," he also said.

Defense cooperation among the United States, Japan and South Korea represents great pressure to North Korea, Mattis said, adding that there will be no reward to Pyongyang without its verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.

Later, Onodera had a bilateral meeting with Song. Jiji Press