Biden aide to meet Japan, South Korea on next steps on the North
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Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security advisor, will huddle with his counterparts from South Korea and Japan, Suh Hoon and Shigeru Kitamura, at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Top security officials of the United States, Japan and South Korea are set to meet on Friday to discuss next steps on North Korea.
The highly anticipated meeting comes in the wake of US President Joe Biden completing a policy review.
Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security advisor, will huddle with his counterparts from South Korea and Japan, Suh Hoon and Shigeru Kitamura, at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
The Annapolis talks mark rare in-person diplomacy for the Biden administration amid the pandemic and Sullivan's first trilateral since taking office. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin last month jointly visited both Tokyo and Seoul on their first foreign trips.
"Denuclearisation will remain at the center of American policy towards North Korea. We also know that any approach to North Korea, in order to be effective, will be one that we will have to execute in lockstep with our close allies," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Thursday.
The Biden administration is looking at how to move forward after former president Donald Trump's unusually personal diplomacy with North Korea which included three meetings with strongman Kim Jong-un.
Biden has sharply criticised Trump's meetings, saying he legitimised one of the world's most ruthless leaders, but has also said he is open to diplomacy.
Biden has also warned North Korea of consequences for violations of Security Council resolutions after Pyongyang recently tested what US officials judged to be ballistic missiles.