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Blue House National Security Office director Chung Eui-yong (left)

Blue House National Security Office director Chung Eui-yong discussed plans for the Korean Peninsula’s “complete denuclearization” at two days of meetings with his US and Japanese counterparts in San Francisco on Mar. 17–18, the Blue House reported on Mar. 19.

This marks the first confirmed meeting of senior officials from the three sides for coordination since Pyongyang agreed to hold an inter-Korean summit in late April and North Korea-US summit in May.

“Chung Eui-yong met with US National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster and Japanese National Security Advisor Shotaro Yachi in San Francisco on Mar. 17–18 for trilateral discussions among national security office directors on the Korean Peninsula’s total denuclearization and the inter-Korean and US-North Korea summits,” Blue House spokesperson Kim Eui-kyum announced that morning.

“The participants agreed that it was important not to repeat past failures and decided to continue cooperating closely over the coming weeks,” Kim added.

The meeting among the three national security advisors was reportedly the first in two months since a closed-door gathering in San Francisco in mid-January. The three held a video conference in early Aug. 2017 in response to North Korea’s second test launch of its Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on July 28, followed by another closed-door meeting in San Francisco later that month. In all three cases, the three sides emphasized playing a central role in “maintaining sanctions and pressure from the international community” against the North.

The latest discussions are also seen as affirming the message that sanctions and pressure remain in effect ahead of North Korea’s denuclearization. The latest meeting chiefly consisted of focused discussions between South Korea and the US.

“They shared the outcome of the [South Korean] special delegation to North Korea’s discussions with China, Japan, and Russia and agreed that with the inter-Korean and North Korea-US summit occurring back to back in April and May, their success is extremely important for peace and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula but in Northeast Asia,” a key Blue House official said.

“To this end, there were in-depth discussions on measures for close cooperation between South Korea and the US,” the official added.

Meanwhile, the Blue House’s decision to go public about the previously closed-door San Francisco meetings is raising questions about the reasons behind its move.

By Kim Ji-eun and Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporters

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