And close cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. is continuing ahead of a summit between Presidents Moon and Trump later this month.... and the meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un in mid-June.
Lee Ji-won with more.
South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met with her U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, for the first time on Friday.
During their talks in Washington,... the two discussed the upcoming North Korea-U.S. summit that's set for June 12th in Singapore.
They also reaffirmed their shared goal on North Korea.
"We agreed that the summit would be a historic opportunity for resolving the North Korean nuclear issue and securing enduring peace on the Korean Peninsula. We reaffirmed that our goal is to achieve the complete verifiable and irreversible denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. In this regard, Secretary Pompeo and I agreed the next few weeks will be critical, requiring airtight coordination between our two countries."
Pompeo added that if North Korea chooses to swiftly denuclearize, the U.S. is ready to help North Korea breathe life into its ailing economy.
"America's track record of support for the Korean people is second to none. If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize, the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on the par with our South Korean friends."
Asked about his recent talks in Pyongyang with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Pompeo said they had substantive conversations that involve deep complex problems, like if Kim is prepared to FULLY denuclearize.
Pompeo added, by "fully", it would mean to ensure Pyongyang doesn't possess the capacity to threaten the U.S. or the world with nuclear weapons.
Pompeo said the only way to achieve that is through a "robust verification program".
"... one that we will undertake with partners around the world, which will achieve that outcome in a way that frankly no agreement before it has ever set forth. A big undertaking for sure but one that Chairman Kim and I had the opportunity to have a good sound discussion on, so that I think we have a pretty good understanding between our two countries about what the shared objectives are."
While the U.S. diplomat appeared optimistic about seeing eye-to-eye with the North, Pompeo and Kang also made it clear that sanctions will remain in place until visible, meaningful actions are taken by North Korea on the denuclearization track.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
