Denuclearization will be at center of new N. Korea policy: State Dept.

By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Yonhap) -- Denuclearization of North Korea will be at the center of any new U.S. policy toward the reclusive nation, a State Department spokesman said Thursday, adding the country's policy review will soon be concluded.

Ned Price also said any U.S. policy toward North Korea will be executed in "lockstep" with key U.S. allies, including South Korea and Japan.

"I wouldn't want to prejudge the conclusion of any ongoing review, but we have said that denuclearization will remain at the center of American policy towards North Korea," Price said at a daily press briefing, when asked if the U.S. will publish the outcome of its policy review that he said "is coming to a conclusion."

"We also know that any approach to North Korea, in order to be effective, will be one that we will have to execute in lockstep with our close allies, including in this case our treaty allies Japan and South Korea," he added.

His remarks came as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is set to host his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on Friday to discuss various issues, including the outcome of the U.S. policy review.

The meeting is to be held at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

The department spokesman noted the two U.S. allies have had opportunities to provide their own input into the review process, which the U.S. earlier said is designed to create a "new" approach toward the North.

He said this week's three-way dialogue between Sullivan, South Korea's Suh Hoon and Japan's Shigeru Kitamura will provide another opportunity to hear directly from the senior security officials of the two Asian allies.

"But it will also be an opportunity for them to share with us their thinking, their perspective that we have heard, at least from other Japanese and South Korean officials during our trilateral engagements," said Price, partly referring to Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to South Korea and Japan last month.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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