The United States says it is ready to engage diplomatically with Pyongyang to achieve the ultimate goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. This comes after the U.S. completed a months-long review of its North Korea policy.
“Our current policy calls for a calibrated and practical approach, is open to diplomacy with North Korea and will explore diplomatic avenues to seek tangible progress on security to enhance the security of us, our allies, and our deployed military,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a joint online press conference with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in London on Monday (May 3).
Raab said the United Kingdom and the United States “share a common strategic model” and that the two countries will support each other’s efforts.
On Friday, the Biden administration announced the completion of its review of North Korean policy, expressing its willingness to negotiate with the closed communist country. The U.S. is also expected to appoint a special envoy for human rights in North Korea.
North Korea on Sunday issued a series of statements slamming the U.S. and its allies, calling Washington’s recent rhetoric evidence of a hostile policy.
In a statement, Kwon Jong Gun, director of the North American Department of the North Korean Foreign Ministry, warned that Pyongyang would seek “corresponding measures. The statement added that Washington will face an increasingly unbearable crisis in the near future if it tries to deal with Pyongyang through “outdated and old-school policies” from a Cold War perspective.
“I hope that North Korea will seize this opportunity to engage diplomatically and see if there is a way to move toward the goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. So we need to focus not only on what North Korea says, but what it actually does in the coming days and months,” said Blinken, who is the top U.S. diplomat.
Blinken made the remarks after meeting separately with Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong. The three foreign ministers pledged to cooperate with the U.S.-Japan-South Korea to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
China Issues
Blinken arrived in London on Sunday for a meeting with foreign ministers from the Group of Seven countries. The new crown epidemic, as well as China and Russia, are high on the agenda during the three-day formal meeting and off-site discussions.
“We will also be discussing China. I think it’s fair to say that we agree on the need to stick to our values and to hold Beijing to the commitments that they have made, both under the (Sino-British) Joint Declaration on Hong Kong and more broadly,” Raab said at a news conference Monday.
He added that the U.S. and Britain are also seeking to work constructively with China on issues including climate change in a “reasonable and positive way” where possible.
Senior U.S. officials have said Washington’s aim is not to try to contain China or suppress it, but to maintain a rules-based international order.
Biden sees competition with China as his administration’s biggest foreign policy challenge. In his first speech to Congress last Wednesday, he pledged to maintain a strong U.S. military presence in the Indo-Pacific region and to advance U.S. technology.
Last month, Blinken said the United States is concerned about China’s aggressive actions against Taiwan and warned that it would be a “grave mistake” for anyone to try to change the status quo in the Western Pacific by force.
The G-7 foreign ministers are scheduled to discuss Iran and North Korea at a working dinner Monday night. Both countries’ nuclear programs have been the focus of negotiations in recent years.
Blinken’s other off-site meetings Monday included talks with Brunei’s Second Minister of Foreign Affairs Dato Erywan Yusof and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
The G-7 ministerial talks laid the groundwork for a summit of the leaders of these countries, also held in the United Kingdom in June.
In addition to the United Kingdom and the United States, the G-7 also includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Australia, India, South Africa, South Korea and Brunei also participated in this week’s talks.
After the G-7 meeting, Blinken plans to travel to Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskiy (Volodymyr Zelenskiy) and other senior government officials.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that Blinken will “reaffirm the United States’ unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression.”
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