Sung Kim reaffirms US commitment to denuclearization, support for N. Korea against COVID-19
Sung Kim, U.S. Special Envoy for North Korea, speaks during a meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts Kim Gunn and Takehiro Funakoshi at the foreign ministry in Seoul, South Korea, June 3. AP-Yonhap
U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in talks with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, the State Department said Friday.
Kim also urged Pyongyang to accept vaccine assistance to deal with its ongoing COVID-19 outbreak during his ongoing three-day visit to Seoul that will end Saturday (KST).
Kim attended a trilateral meeting hosted by his South Korean counterpart, Kim Gunn, that also involved Japan's Takehiro Funakoshi.
The three "reaffirmed the importance of a robust trilateral relationship as the three countries work to achieve the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," department spokesperson Ned Price said of the meeting, held Friday (KST), in a press release.
Kim's latest trip to Seoul followed the North's latest missile launches May 24, the 17th of their kind this year.
The top nuclear envoys of the three countries strongly condemned the launches as "destabilizing to the region and as violations of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions," the department spokesperson said.
"They called upon Pyongyang to immediately cease its unlawful and dangerous behavior and return to dialogue," added Price.
Intelligence officials in Seoul and Washington have noted the North may be preparing to conduct a nuclear weapon test in the near future.
Sung Kim reaffirmed at the beginning of the trilateral meeting Friday that North Korea appears to preparing for what will be its seventh nuclear test at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site.
North Korea conducted its sixth and last nuclear test at the same site in September 2017.
The special U.S. envoy also called on North Korea to work with the international community to address its ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, according to the department spokesperson.
"U.S. Special Representative Kim expressed concern about the impact of the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 on the North Korean people and hope that the DPRK will respond positively to international offers of assistance," said Price.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
North Korea says nearly 4 million people have been identified with “fever” since May 12 when it reported its first suspected case of COVID-19.
The U.S. has said it has no immediate plans to share COVID-19 vaccines with North Korea from its own supplies, but that it will support any assistance to the impoverished country from U.S. or international aid groups. (Yonhap)