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| U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a joint news conference with President Moon Jae-in, in the East Room of the White House, Friday (local time). AP-Yonhap |
The United States is willing to engage diplomatically with North Korea to take practical steps toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, President Joe Biden said Friday (local time), announcing the appointment of former U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Sung Kim as his special envoy for Pyongyang.
Biden also said he could meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but only if Kim makes a serious commitment to discuss giving up his nuclear ambitions, which will also have to be verified in pre-meeting negotiations.
“Our two nations also share a willingness to engage diplomatically with the DPRK to take pragmatic steps that will reduce tensions as we move toward our ultimate goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” he said at a joint press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
Moon and Biden held their first bilateral summit in Washington, Friday, which marked Biden’s second in-person meeting with a foreign leader since taking office Jan. 20.
Biden said he and Moon made “important progress” on a range of issues, including North Korea.
“We spoke about the shared approach to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and continuing threat of the DPRK’s nuclear and missile programs,” he told the joint press conference, referring to North Korea by its official name.
Biden said the U.S. had closely consulted with South Korea throughout its months-long review of its North Korea policy, which concluded last month.
“Today, I affirmed to President Moon that the United States will proceed in close consultation with the Republic of Korea in our strategy and our approach,” he added.
Biden named former Ambassador Sung Kim as special U.S. envoy for North Korea. He is also the top U.S. negotiator with the North.
Kim previously served as a U.S. negotiator in the six-nation talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear ambition before being appointed U.S. ambassador to South Korea.
Biden said his country’s goal remains the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and that it understand how difficult that is.
“We are under no illusions how difficult this is. None whatsoever, and the past four administrations have not achieved the objective. It’s an incredibly difficult objective.”
He said a meeting with the North Korean leader could be possible, but only if Kim makes a serious commitment to discuss giving up his nuclear weapons, which will also have to be verified in pre-meeting negotiations.
“If he made any commitment, then I would meet with him, and if there was a commitment on which we met, and the commitment has to be that there’s discussion about his nuclear arsenal,” said Biden. “I would make sure that my team had met with their counterparts, and I know exactly what we’re meeting on.” (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap)
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