Seoul: A U.S. envoy reaffirmed Monday that "complete denuclearization" of North Korea remains the policy shared with South Korea, after a new U.S. security strategy document showed the phrase was absent. Acting U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Kevin Kim made the remark following his meeting with First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo, days after the Donald Trump administration released its latest National Security Strategy (NSS).
According to Yonhap News Agency, the document includes no mention of North Korea and contains no language reaffirming the U.S. commitment to its denuclearization, unlike the 2017 and 2022 versions, raising concerns that North Korea issues could be pushed to the sidelines. "President Trump and President Lee (Jae Myung) reiterated their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea in the joint fact sheet," Kim told reporters when asked about the NSS, referring to the joint summit document recently released by the allies. "That is our Korea policy right now," he said.
Regarding the new NSS, the foreign ministry said the document reflects a shift in approach in that it does not provide details of specific conflicts or security issues. "The Trump administration has continued to make clear its commitment to the goal of North Korea's denuclearization at key occasions," the ministry said. "South Korea and the U.S. have consistently maintained their commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, as stated in the joint fact sheet," it said.
The joint fact sheet lays out the commitments on trade, investment, security, and other issues made during the two recent summits between President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump in August and October. Kim said North Korea was among the issues discussed during his meeting with Park, including ways to "best coordinate" on related and other issues.
Kim also noted that Seoul has reaffirmed the importance of coordination on joint military exercises, apparently referring to growing calls in South Korea to adjust the drills with the U.S. as leverage to bring Pyongyang back to dialogue. "(Defense) Minister Ahn previously reiterated the absolute critical nature of coordinating on joint military exercises. I think the words that he used were that military exercises are like the lifeline of a military. That's our expectation moving forward," he said.
On Sunday, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac dismissed the idea of scaling down the allies' joint military drills, saying Seoul is not considering using them as "a card" to resume talks with Pyongyang. Asked if the U.S. is open to revising the nuclear energy pact to allow Seoul to enrich uranium and reprocess spent fuel, the envoy said the two sides are "still in discussions."
"We are going to do our best to implement the joint fact sheet," Kim said. In the fact sheet, the U.S. states support for the process that will lead to South Korea's civil uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing for peaceful use, consistent with their existing bilateral nuclear energy pact and subject to U.S. legal requirements. In the recent high-level talks in Washington, Seoul and Washington agreed to launch working groups for follow-up talks on the joint fact sheet.