US expects to complete North Korea policy review in 'weeks': Sung Kim

Sung Kim, the United States' acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs / Yonhap

The United States is expected to complete an ongoing review of its North Korea policy in a few "weeks," a senior U.S. State Department official said Friday, ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken's upcoming trip to South Korea and Japan to discuss the issue.

Sung Kim, acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said the secretary's visit to the countries will provide great opportunities for the Asian allies to offer their own input into the U.S.' new policy toward the North.

"I don't have any exact timeline for the completion of the review, but we are working expeditiously and I think maybe in the coming weeks we'll be able to complete the review," Kim said.

"We're not finished yet, but throughout the review we have stayed in very close touch with our colleagues and friends in Tokyo and Seoul because we want to make sure to incorporate their input," he said in a telephone press briefing, also joined by David Helvey, acting assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific affairs.

Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin are set to visit Japan and South Korea next week, where they will engage with their respective counterparts in both bilateral and two-plus-two settings.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said earlier that their visits to the countries will provide an important "ingredient" for a new policy toward Pyongyang.

Kim reiterated the visits will allow Seoul and Tokyo to offer their own input into the policy.

"Because we want to make sure to incorporate their input as we review all of the important aspects of our North Korea policy, and, in fact, when the secretary is in the region, I think this will be another great opportunity for our allies to provide senior-level input into our process," he said. (Yonhap)