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Oct. 15. (Yonhap News)

South Korean President Park Geun-hye held a summit with US President Barack Obama in Washington DC on Oct. 16, where the two leaders adopted a joint statement on the issue of North Korea’s nuclear weapons. This is the first time that the leaders of the two countries have issued a separate joint statement that is specifically about the issue of North Korea’s nuclear weapons.　

　“In the summit, the two countries affirmed the principle of no-tolerance to North Korean armed provocations and their commitment to making a stern response. They expressed this commitment in the separate document known as a joint statement,” a Blue House source said on Friday.　

　The joint statement about North Korean nuclear weapons included ways to respond if North Korea carries out more nuclear tests or launches more long-range rockets in the future along with ways to resume meaningful dialogue on denuclearization, such as the six-party talks.　

　During the private meeting at the White House on Friday, which lasted just over 30 minutes, the leaders confirmed that the alliance between US and South Korea is “strong, evolving and dynamic” and discussed ways to strengthen strategic cooperation in order to take the alliance to the next level.　

　In addition to assessing the recent situation in North Korea, the two leaders talked about ways to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in order to respond to North Korea’s strategic provocations and to resume meaningful dialogue about denuclearization. The two leaders also exchanged their views about relationships between countries in Northeast Asia ? including South Korea’s ties with Japan and China ? and about ways to promote peace and cooperation in the region.　

　Park and Obama shared their opinions about peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula and discussed how the two countries could work together to create a friendly mood on the Korean Peninsula for peaceful reunification, a Blue House source said.　

　In an expanded summit that took place during a 50-minute luncheon, Park and Obama swapped ideas about expanding cooperation between the two countries in “new frontiers,” strengthening their global partnership to respond jointly to global challenges and finding ways to increase significant cooperation in the economy and other areas.　

　“It was an opportunity to strengthen cooperation in cutting-edge areas such as space, health security, and cyber security,” the Blue House said.　

　During a lecture at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Oct. 15, Park said that the alliance between the US and South Korea had created many miraculous success stories on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula and that it was now time to expand that miraculous history to the entirety of the peninsula. Park also provoked controversy when she made comments that seemed to imply “unification by absorption” of North Korea.　

　“Park was emphasizing that the role of the US will be important even after unification,” a Blue House source said.　

　“South Korea has arranged for a trilateral summit among South Korea, Japan, and China to be held at the beginning of November for the first time in three years. I think that that will be an opportunity for me to have a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,” Park also said.　

　Immediately after Park’s comments became known, Abe made clear that he is willing to have a summit with Park during the trilateral summit that will be held in Seoul at the beginning of next month. After meeting with Abe on Oct. 16, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters that Abe had said he would visit South Korea before long to have a summit meeting both with China and with South Korea and that, when Kawamura suggested that the meetings were still up in the air, Abe had contradicted him and said they would definitely take place.

　By Choi Hye-jung, staff reporter in Washington and Gil Yun-hyung, Tokyo correspondent

　Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]