NATO leaders call on N. Korea to engage in dialogue with US

WASHINGTON -- The United States and 29 other member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) urged North Korea on Monday to engage in "meaningful" dialogue with the US toward complete denuclearization.

The leaders of the 30 NATO countries also called on North Korea to fully implement its international obligations while also calling on others to fully implement UN Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs) on North Korea.

"We reiterate the Alliance's full support to the goal of the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearisation of North Korea, in accordance with relevant UNSCRs. We call on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to engage in meaningful negotiations with the United States towards achieving this goal," they said in a joint communique, referring to North Korea by its official name.

The leaders include US President Joe Biden, who arrived in Brussels on Sunday following his participation in the Group of 7 summit in Cornwall, Britain.

"We urge the DPRK to fully implement its international obligations; to eliminate its nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare capabilities and ballistic missiles; to return to the NPT and its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); and to abandon all related programmes," said the joint communique.

"We call on nations to fully implement existing UN sanctions," it added.

NPT stands for the weapons Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The call for US-North Korea dialogue comes amid a prolonged hiatus in denuclearization talks with the recalcitrant North.

Pyongyang has stayed away from denuclearization negotiations since leader Kim Jong-un's Hanoi summit with former US President Donald Trump ended without a deal in February 2019.

The Biden administration said it had reached out to the reclusive state in February, then again when its review of its North Korea policy was concluded in April.

North Korea reportedly remains unresponsive to US overtures. (Yonhap)