US NSA Discusses Pyongyang’s Nuclear Program in Rare In-person Meeting with S. Korea, Japan

The three countries have been holding trilateral meetings to finalize a strategy against Pyongyang, with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan hosting his Japanese and South Korean counterparts at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland over the weekend.

The three officials "shared their concerns about North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and reaffirmed their commitment to manage and resolve these issues through concerted trilateral cooperation towards denuclearization," according to a White House statement.

"They agreed on the imperative for full implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions by the international community, including North Korea, preventing proliferation and cooperating to strengthen deterrence and maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," the statement added.

Addressing other key priorities for Biden, the security officials also discussed the fights against Covid-19 and climate change, and ways to restore democracy in Myanmar.

Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will be received at the White House on April 16, becoming the first foreign leader to meet US President Joe Biden on American soil.

Biden has so far remained fairly tepid regarding the administration's North Korean policy, a noticeable departure from his predecessor's attempt at direct diplomacy with Pyongyang's reclusive leader Kim Jong Un, which ultimately failed to make any substantive progress on the issue of denuclearization.