U.S., Japan, S. Korea to meet Thursday over North Korea

January 5, 2017

WASHINGTON- Senior officials from the United States, Japan and South Korea will hold a meeting Thursday in Washington to ensure trilateral cooperation in dealing with North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons development, the State Department said Tuesday. The meeting will come after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in his New Year's address that Pyongyang has reached the final stage of preparations to test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile in an apparent threat to develop a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike as far away as the United States. The talks will focus on "shared regional and global priorities, including our efforts to promote peace and stability in the face of North Korea's threatening nuclear and ballistic missile development," the department said. The talks will involve U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama and South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung Nam, it said. Last year alone, North Korea conducted two nuclear tests and the launches of more than 20 ballistic missiles. In a related move, Blinken will have a separate meeting Friday in Washington with Cho Tae Yong, first deputy director of South Korea's National Security Office, for U.S.-South Korea strategic consultations on North Korea policy, according to the department. Blinken and Cho "will discuss the international community's response to North Korea's destabilizing violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions and review progress in holding North Korea accountable for its unlawful actions," it said. Thursday's gathering will be the sixth round of trilateral deputy-level consultations in the forum that began in April 2015, while Friday's bilateral talks will be the fifth of its kind. (Kyodo News)