North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, front right, inspects a newly launched nuclear material production facility at an unspecified location on Jun. 3 in this image captured from the website of North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency the next day. Yonhap
WASHINGTON — The United States and Japan reiterated their commitment to the "complete denuclearization" of North Korea and rejected Russia's notion that Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear arms was a "closed" issue, as they held key defense talks in Tokyo this week, according to a joint statement.
The allies held the bilateral Extended Deterrence Dialogue at Japan's foreign ministry on Monday and Tuesday as they seek to reinforce security cooperation in the face of China's growing assertiveness and North Korea's advancing nuclear and ballistic missile threats.
"They reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the DPRK," the joint statement read. DPRK is short for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
It added, "Both delegations discussed China's dramatic and opaque nuclear weapons buildup and rejected Russia's notion that the DPRK's pursuit of nuclear weapons was a closed issue."
