US says North Korea an urgent priority for the United States
13 February, 2021
North Korea's nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmes are an urgent priority for the United States and Washington remains focused on denuclearisation of the united states, the US STATE DEPT. said on Fri (Feb 12).
The Biden administration's insufficient immediate engagement with North Korea shouldn't be seen as a sign that the task posed by its weapons programmes was not a priority, section spokesman Ned Price said.
"It in fact very much is," he told a normal briefing.
North Korea continued to create progress in its nuclear and missile programmes recently "which makes this an urgent priority for the United States and the one that we are committed to addressing together with our allies and companions," Price said.
"And ... the central premise is that people remain committed to denuclearisation of North Korea," he said.
Price said having less direct engagement to date was "a function of us making sure that we've done the diplomatic legwork, that we have been in close contact touching our companions and allies," targeting a coordinated approach.
The Biden administration, which took office last month, says it is conducting a full overview of North Korea policy in consultation with allies, particularly South Korea and Japan, following former President Donald Trump's unprecedented engagement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which failed to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
A confidential UN article seen by Reuters about Monday said North Korea developed its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes throughout 2020 found in violation of international sanctions, helping fund them with lots of US$300 million stolen through cyber hacks.
President Joe Biden's top Asia official, Kurt Campbell, features said the administration needs to decide quickly how to methodology North Korea rather than repeat an Obama-period delay that resulted in "provocative" techniques by Pyongyang that prevented engagement.
Secretary of Condition Antony Blinken, who also discussed North Korea along with his South Korean counterpart on Thursday, features said additional sanctions could possibly be found in coordination with allies to press North Korea to denuclearise.
Biden called Kim a "thug" during his election plan, and said he'd only meet him "on the problem that he would concur that he'd be drawing downwards his nuclear capacity to get there."
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