IT will be a “bumpy road” to the nuclear negotiations with North Korea later this month, US defence secretary Jim Mattis has warned.
He told his South Korean and Japanese counterparts they must maintain a strong defensive stance so the diplomats can negotiate from a position of strength.
Mattis was speaking at the start of a meeting with South Korean defence minister Song Young-moo and Japanese defence minister Itsunori Onodera on the final day of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference. He said allies must remain vigilant.
“We can anticipate, at best, a bumpy road to the negotiations,” Mattis said.
“In this moment we are steadfastly committed to strengthening even further our defence cooperation as the best means for preserving the peace.”
Plans are moving forward for a nuclear weapons summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore.
Mattis repeated the US position that North Korea will only receive relief from UN national security sanctions when it demonstrates “verifiable and irreversible steps” to denuclearisation.
Song said: “Of course, given North Korea’s past, we must be cautious in approaching this.”
He added that some of North Korea’s recent measures “give us reasons to be positive and one can be cautiously optimistic as we move forward”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here