According to a state department official, the US and South Korea share a common goal of entirely denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and will continue to work closely on measures to achieve that goal.
After South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol indicated his government would help North Korea restore its economy if Pyongyang gave up its nuclear ambitions, State Department Press Secretary Ned Price made the remarks.
When asked about Yoon’s offer for North Korea, Price said, “We have been and will continue to work closely with the ROK to address the threat posed by the DPRK’s unlawful WMD programs, as well as its ballistic missile program, and to advance our shared objective on the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
“It’s an objective we share with this ROK government,” he added. “And I know that we look forward to the opportunities ahead over the phone, in person, including when the president travels to the ROK in just a matter of days, to continue these discussions with the new ROK administration on how we can advance and promote that goal.”
US President Joe Biden is set to visit Seoul next week for a summit with Yoon, who took office on Tuesday (Seoul time).
North Korea has avoided denuclearization talks since late 2019. It has also ignored all US overtures since Biden took office early last year.
Price reaffirmed US concerns about North Korea’s continued provocations, which the State Department has previously stated may involve a nuclear test by the end of the month.
When asked about the potential of North Korea conducting a nuclear test before Biden’s trip to Asia from May 20-24, which will also take him to Japan, he responded, “I wouldn’t want to put a precise timeline on it.”
“Three ICBM tests have been observed. We’ve witnessed more ballistic missile testing, and we’ve expressed our concern that the DPRK would conduct another nuclear test soon “He continued.