(LEAD) S. Korea's national security adviser arrives in U.S. for talks

All News 05:02 April 01, 2021

(ATTN: UPDATES with remarks from vice spokesperson for the White House in paras 5-6; ADDS photo)
By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's national security adviser, Suh Hoon, arrived in the United States on Wednesday for talks with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts on how to deal with North Korea.

Suh arrived in New York, and is expected to travel to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where the three-way security dialogue will be held on Friday.

Seoul's presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, earlier said Suh will also hold bilateral talks with his U.S. counterpart, Jake Sullivan, and Japan's Shigeru Kitamura.

The upcoming talks come as the U.S. is in the "final stages" of its North Korea policy review that it said will provide a new approach toward North Korea.

The photo, taken March 30, 2021, shows South Korean National Security Adviser Suh Hoon visiting the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, shortly before he was set to depart for the United States for three-way dialogue with his U.S. counterpart, Jake Sullivan, and Japanese counterpart, Shigeru Kitamura. (Yonhap)

"We are in the final stages of our intensive, multi-stakeholder North Korea policy review. This has been a thorough interagency review of U.S. policy towards North Korea, including evaluation of all available options to address the increasing threat posed by North Korea to its neighbors," said Karine Jean-Pierre, principal deputy spokesperson for the White House.

"So we look forward to discussing our review with the national security advisers of South Korea and Japan at our trilateral dialogue in Annapolis," she told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where President Joe Biden was scheduled to deliver remarks on his economic plan.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said coordinating the new U.S. approach with key U.S. allies, such as South Korea and Japan, is an important part of the policy review process.

The upcoming talks also come after Blinken's visits to Seoul and Tokyo this month.

The White House says Sullivan and his South Korean and Japanese counterparts will discuss a wide range of regional issues, including maintaining peace on the Korean Peninsula and addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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