The United States, South Korea and Japan reiterated on Saturday their commitment to the "complete denuclearization" of North Korea, which adamantly refuses to abandon its arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.
Speculation is growing over the possibility of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the sidelines of next month's APEC summit in China, particularly as Trump has repeatedly invited Pyongyang to hold talks on its nuclear program.
A statement reported that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with his South Korean counterpart Cho Hyun and Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi, "reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to the complete denuclearization" of North Korea during talks held Friday on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.
The three ministers also pledged the "full implementation" of United Nations Security Council resolutions, including a ban on any financial support that contributes to funding North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, according to a U.S. State Department statement.
Despite long-standing sanctions imposed by the United Nations, North Korea has consolidated its status as a nuclear state, with its regime repeatedly declaring its nuclear weapons permanent and irreversible.
On Saturday, Pyongyang also condemned a statement issued by a group of countries monitoring the sanctions imposed on it, asserting that "the stereotypical sanctions campaign imposed by the United States and the West cannot affect the status of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as a nuclear-armed state."
