SEOUL, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Commitment by Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is an important step to peace and stability in the region, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday.
"(Kim's) public commitment to completing denuclearization is an important step toward bringing a lasting peace and stability to Northeast Asia and indeed to the entire world," Pompeo said during a press conference in Seoul after a trilateral meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono.
Pompeo arrived in South Korea on Wednesday evening after accompanying U.S. President Donald Trump to the historic summit with top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on Tuesday. Kim and Trump agreed to complete denuclearization of the peninsula in return for security guarantees.
The U.S. secretary of state said the trilateral cooperation between Seoul, Tokyo and Washington is crucial to effectiveness regarding the efforts to denuclearize the peninsula, saying the Singapore summit was "a turning point" in the U.S.-DPRK relationship.
Pompeo said the denuclearization will be a "process" and not an easy one as President Trump mentioned, vowing to closely cooperate with South Korea and Japan which would be critical to the success.
The United States, South Korea and Japan will remain committed to achieving complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization, Pompeo said, adding that the DPRK leader indicated it in Singapore to share that vision.
"The agreement signed (by Kim and Trump in Singapore) was very clear. This will be the complete denuclearization."
Meanwhile, the South Korean foreign minister said the joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington would be decided through consultations between military authorities of the two countries.
Her comments came after Trump told a press conference after his summit with the DPRK leader that he will halt the U.S. war games with South Korea which have been conducted twice a year.
Trump said it would be inappropriate to have such "provocative" war games as he and the DPRK leader reached a comprehensive deal.
Kim and Trump signed a joint statement after the first DPRK-U.S. summit, agreeing to establish new bilateral ties. It indicated the end of their hostile relations that had lasted for decades.
The South Korean top diplomat said the annual South Korea-U.S. military drills are a matter between the two allies and an issue to be decided through consultations between the military authorities.
The Blue House of South Korea said Wednesday that it needs to get clarity about what exact meaning and intention Trump's comment about the war games had at the current stage.
However, it noted that while Pyongyang and Washington proceed with an earnest dialogue on denuclearizing the peninsula and establishing bilateral relations, it needs to come up with various ways to further forward such dialogue more smoothly.
It indicated the possible suspension of the upcoming South Korea-U.S. joint military drills if denuclearization talks go smoothly.
The joint annual South Korea-U.S. military exercises have been carried out twice in spring and fall each. This year's springtime war games were conducted in April as it was delayed for the South Korea-hosted Winter Olympics. The autumn military drills are scheduled for August this year.
