Full text of the Korea-US-Japan joint statement

The following is the full text of the joint statement from the Republic of Korea, the United States and Japan, following their trilateral summit held in Hamburg on Thursday.  -- Ed. 

Joint Statement from the United States of America, Republic of Korea, and Japan
 
July 7, 2017
 
President Donald J. Trump, President Moon Jae-in, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met in Hamburg, Germany, on July 6 to discuss the serious and escalating threat posed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) nuclear and ballistic missile programs. 

The three leaders condemned the DPRK’s unprecedented launch, on July 4, of a ballistic missile with intercontinental range, a major escalation that directly violates multiple UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and that clearly demonstrates the growing threat North Korea poses to the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and Japan, as well as countries around the world.

They affirmed the importance of working together to counter the North Korean threat and to achieve the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner, a shared goal among the three countries.

They also committed to continue to cooperate to apply maximum pressure on the DPRK to change its path, refrain from provocative and threatening actions, and take steps necessary to return to serious dialogue for denuclearization.

The three leaders emphasized that they, together with the rest of the international community, stand ready to offer a brighter future for the DPRK if it chooses the right path. The United States, Japan, and the ROK will never accept a nuclear armed DPRK.
 
President Trump, President Moon, and Prime Minister Abe decided to press for the early adoption of a new UNSC resolution with additional sanctions to demonstrate to the DPRK that there are serious consequences for its destabilizing, provocative, and escalatory actions.

They called on the international community to swiftly and fully implement all UNSC resolutions and to take measures to reduce economic relations with the DPRK.

The three leaders also called on the nations that border the DPRK to make further efforts to convince the DPRK regime to abandon its current threatening and provocative path and immediately take steps to denuclearize and to halt its ballistic missile program.
 
The three leaders underscored their commitment to further strengthen their respective alliances and ensure they continue to increase the capabilities to deter and respond to any attack from the DPRK.

They committed to continue advancing trilateral security cooperation in the face of the threat posed by the DPRK.

President Trump reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to defend the ROK and Japan using the full range of US conventional and nuclear capabilities.

By Bae Hyun-jung
Korea Herald correspondent
(tellme@heraldcorp.com)