U.S. looks forward to working with new S. Korean gov't on N. Korea: State Dept.

By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, April 4 (Yonhap) -- The United States looks forward to working with South Korea's incoming administration to tackle challenges posed by North Korea, including concerns over humanitarian conditions in the impoverished North, a state department spokesperson said Monday.

Ned Price also highlighted the importance of all U.N. member countries, including China, implementing U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea to stop the country from taking additional destabilizing actions.

"We know that the U.S.-ROK alliance is the linchpin of peace, security, prosperity in the Indo-Pacific," the department press secretary said in a daily press briefing, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.

"And we look forward to continuing to work with our partners, our allies in the ROK, including the incoming government, on the challenges posed by the DPRK's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs, but also to seek to address the humanitarian needs and concerns," he added.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

The remarks come as a special delegation of South Korea's President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is currently on a visit to the U.S. for consultations regarding security and other major policy issues with the U.S.

The delegation, led by Rep. Park Jin of Yoon's People Power Party, was set to meet Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman later in the day. Yoon is set to take office on May 10.

Price underscored the importance of working with all countries, including the People's Republic of China (PRC), to prevent North Korea from taking any further escalatory steps.

"We coordinate closely in the first instance with our allies -- the ROK and Japan -- on a coordinated approach to the DPRK's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs," said Price.

"But it's also important that we consult with those countries that are in a position to wield leverage over the DPRK, including in some cases in ways that we are not. The PRC is certainly one of those countries," he added, noting U.S. Special Representative for the DPRK Sung Kim was scheduled to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart, Liu Xiaoming, in Washington this week.

Pyongyang staged 12 rounds of missile launches this year, including seven rounds in January alone that marked the largest number of missile tests it has conducted in a single month.

The North also fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) late last month, marking its first ICBM launch since November 2017.

"We believe that all countries, again especially those countries that may have ties with the DPRK that the United States, Japan, the ROK do not, to use that relationship in a way that is constructive and in a way that moves us towards our collective goal of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Price said.

The U.S. special envoy for North Korea met his South Korean counterpart, Noh Kyu-duk, earlier in the day.

The two said they have agreed to push for a new U.N. Security Council resolution on North Korea.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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