Trilateral summit of U.S., S. Korea, Japan to focus on N. Korea: Sullivan

WASHINGTON-- U.S. President Joe Biden will discuss ways to rein in North Korea's provocative actions when he meets with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts this week on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Spain, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.

The trilateral summit involving South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will be held Wednesday.

"This will be the first trilateral leaders level meeting that we've had in some time among the leaders of these three countries," Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Spain.

"And it will be mainly focused on the continuing threat from the DPRK, particularly after an extended period of intense testing and other provocative activities that the North Koreans have undertaken," he added, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

U.S. officials have said the North has launched a total of 31 ballistic missiles so far this year, already marking the largest number of ballistic missile tests in a single year.

Pyongyang is also believed to be moving to stage its first nuclear test in over four years, with officials in both Seoul and Washington saying the country appears to have completed all preparations for a test.

North Korea conducted its sixth and last test in September 2017.

Sullivan said the U.S. is "constantly" looking for ways disrupt North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

"We actually have kept up a tempo with sanctions over the course of 18 months, and we are constantly looking for new targets, especially because North Korea adjusts its methods of acquiring revenue constantly, and so we need to constantly be looking for ways to cut off those sources of revenue," he said when asked if the U.S. and its allies are moving to impose additional sanctions on North Korea.

"The president will have the opportunity with President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida to discuss what we will do on the economic pressure side, particularly when it comes to depriving the North of hard currency that they use to fund their nuclear and missile programs," added Sullivan.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

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