"The national security advisors shared their concerns about North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and reaffirmed their commitment to address and resolve these issues through concerted trilateral cooperation towards denuclearization," the statement said on Friday.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Japanese National Security Secretariat chief General Shigeru Kitamura and South Korean National Security Office Director Suh Hoon met in Washington earlier on Friday to consult on the United States' review of its North Korea policy and to discuss issues of common concern.
The three advisers agreed to cooperate to strengthen deterrence in the region, the statement said.
They also discussed matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the unrest in Myanmar and climate change, the statement added.
On Monday, the White House indicated US President Joe Biden does not have any plans to meet with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un. Biden previously said that he was willing to do "some form of diplomacy" with North Korea, but conditioned any talks by reaching an end result of the country becoming denuclearized.
The dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang has stalled since the failed February 2019 summit in Hanoi, during which the United States demanded more decisive steps from North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and Pyongyang accused Washington of not responding to the steps already taken. The 2019 October talks in Sweden failed to break the deadlock.
The inter-Korean dialogue is also at a low point following North Korea's decision to cut all lines of communication with Seoul last June.
