Tokyo, Seoul Agree with Washington on Need to Press Pyongyang

The State Department said in two press releases on Monday that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his counterparts from Japan and South Korea in separate phone conversations agreed to continue the pressure campaign on North Korea.

News ID: 72051

Date: 28 August 2018 - 14:03

TEHRAN (Defapress)-"On August 24… Pompeo spoke with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha of the Republic of Korea to discuss next steps on DPRK [North Korea] engagement," one of the releases said, adding that "the two pledged to maintain close coordination and agreed that pressure must continue until the DPRK [North Korea] denuclearizes"

The US top diplomat and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono in a separate call on the same day also agreed that pressure on North Korea must continue to be applied until North Korea fully abandons its nuclear weapons program, according to another release.

Pompeo planned to visit North Korea this week but the trip was canceled by US President Donald Trump on Friday citing lack of progress towards denuclearization.

Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met in June despite the tense relations between the two leaders and agreed to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

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