US, South Korea, Japan call for ‘complete denuclearisation’ of North Korea

The joint statement comes as US President Donald Trump seeks a new meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during the G20 summit, in Atlanta, US, October 30 [Megan Varner/AP Photo]

The United States, South Korea and Japan have reiterated their longstanding call for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, a move Pyongyang has repeatedly ruled out.

The three countries addressed the issue on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) meeting in the US city of Atlanta on Thursday, with their top diplomats reaffirming their “resolute commitment to the complete denuclearisation” of North Korea, according to a readout by the US Department of State.

list 1 of 3 Trump announces $200bn in energy investments from South Korea

list 2 of 3 China and North Korea open New Yalu River Bridge, state media reports

list 3 of 3 Trump rules out using a nuclear bomb on Iran: Why that matters

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi also pledged the “full implementation” of United Nations Security Council resolutions, including a ban on supporting revenue for North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi (L), South Korea Foreign Minister Cho Hyun (C) and Mexico’s Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco attend the G20 summit in Atlanta, US, October 30 [Megan Varner/AP Photo]

The statement comes despite repeated overtures to North Korea by US President Donald Trump, who held a series of historic summits with its leader, Kim Jong Un, during his first term in office and has continued to call Kim a “friend” .

Last year, Trump bucked a long-held US policy by conceding that North Korea was already “sort of a nuclear power”.

More recently, he has played down concerns about North Korea’s nuclear programme and expressed a desire to meet Kim again. Speculation is mounting that the two leaders could reconnect at next month’s APEC summit in China, which Trump is due to attend.

Analysts and South Korea’s spy agency say Kim may have conveyed Pyongyang’s position on potential talks with Trump to Beijing during a recent visit to the Chinese border city of Dandong.

South Korea’s dovish President Lee Jae Myung – who has repeatedly offered Pyongyang talks without preconditions – suggested in September that Washington seek a freeze, rather than the immediate elimination, of the North’s nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.

Critics have said such an approach risks tacitly accepting North Korea as a nuclear-armed state while allowing Pyongyang to win sanctions relief without giving up its arsenal.

Despite long-running UN sanctions, North Korea, which is backed by Russia and China, has enshrined its status as a nuclear-armed state in law. Pyongyang’s government has declared its atomic arsenal to be permanent and irreversible.

Pyongyang denounced a joint statement on Saturday by a group of nations monitoring sanctions implementation against it, pledging that “the stereotyped sanctions racket of the US and the West can neither influence the position of the DPRK (North Korea) as a nuclear weapons state.”

这份联合声明发表之际，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普正寻求与朝鲜领导人金正恩举行新的会晤。

美国国务卿马可·卢比奥在亚特兰大举行的二十国集团峰会上发表讲话，10月30日。[梅根·瓦纳/美联社照片]

美国、韩国和日本重申了他们长期以来要求朝鲜放弃核武器的呼吁，但平壤方面一再排除这种可能性。

据美国国务院发布的消息，周四，这三个国家在美国亚特兰大举行的二十国集团（G20）会议期间讨论了这一问题，三国高级外交官重申了他们“对朝鲜完全无核化的坚定承诺”。

列表 1/3：特朗普宣布韩国将投资 2000 亿美元用于能源领域

据官方媒体报道，中国和朝鲜通车新鸭绿江大桥（共3项，此为第2项）。

特朗普排除对伊朗使用核武器的可能性：这为何重要

美国国务卿马可·卢比奥、韩国外长赵显铉和日本外相茂木敏充也承诺“全面执行”联合国安理会决议，包括禁止为朝鲜的核武器和弹道导弹计划提供收入。

10月30日，日本外相茂木敏充（左）、韩国外长赵显铉（中）和墨西哥外长罗伯托·贝拉斯科在美国亚特兰大出席二十国集团峰会。[梅根·瓦纳/美联社照片]

尽管美国总统唐纳德·特朗普一再向朝鲜示好，并在其第一任期内与朝鲜领导人金正恩举行了一系列历史性峰会，并一直称金正恩为“朋友”，但这一声明仍然出台。

去年，特朗普违背了美国长期以来的政策，承认朝鲜已经是“某种意义上的核大国”。

最近，他淡化了对朝鲜核计划的担忧，并表达了再次会见金正恩的意愿。外界猜测，两位领导人可能会在下个月于中国举行的亚太经合组织峰会上重聚，特朗普预计将出席此次峰会。

分析人士和韩国情报机构表示，金正恩在最近访问中国边境城市丹东期间，可能向北京传达了平壤对与特朗普举行潜在会谈的立场。

韩国鸽派总统李在明曾多次表示愿意与平壤进行无条件对话。他在9月份建议，华盛顿应该寻求冻结朝鲜的核计划，而不是立即消除该计划，以此换取制裁的解除。

批评人士表示，这种做法有可能默认朝鲜是一个拥有核武器的国家，同时允许平壤在不放弃其核武库的情况下赢得制裁豁免。

尽管联合国长期实施制裁，但在俄罗斯和中国的支持下，朝鲜已将其核武器国家地位写入法律。平壤政府宣称其核武库是永久性的、不可逆转的。

平壤方面周六谴责了监督对朝制裁执行情况的一组国家发表的联合声明，并誓言“美国和西方老套的制裁伎俩既不能影响朝鲜民主主义人民共和国作为核武器国家的地位”。