Mattis warns of bumpy road to US, North Korea summit
South Korea's Defence Minister Song Young-moo, left, U.S. Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis, center, and Japan's Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera attend a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the IISS Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore, Sunday. / Reuters
It will be a ``bumpy road'' to the nuclear negotiations with North Korea later this month, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned Sunday, telling his South Korean and Japanese counterparts they must maintain a strong defensive stance so the diplomats can negotiate from a position of strength.
Mattis was speaking at the start of a meeting with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo and Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera on the final day of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference. He said allies must remain vigilant.
``We can anticipate, at best, a bumpy road to the negotiations,'' Mattis said. ``In this moment we are steadfastly committed to strengthening even further our defense cooperation as the best means for preserving the peace.''
Plans are moving forward for a nuclear weapons summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore. And Mattis repeated the U.S. position that North Korea will only receive relief from U.N. national security sanctions when it demonstrates ``verifiable and irreversible steps'' to denuclearization.
Through an interpreter, Song said that this is a great turning point as North Korea takes its first steps toward denuclearization.
``Of course, given North Korea's past, we must be cautious in approaching this,'' he added that some of North Korea's recent measures ``give us reasons to be positive and one can be cautiously optimistic as we move forward.'' (AP)