US, S. Korea, Japan Officials to Discuss Range of N. Korea Issues Thursday

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – A trilateral meeting of representatives of United States, South Korea and Japan on the issue of North Korea will be held in Washington DC on December 3, the State Department said in a statement.

US Special Representative for North Korea Policy Sung Kim, ROK Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Hwang Joon-kook and Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director-General for Asian and Oceanian Affairs Kimihiro Ishikane will discuss a wide range of issues related to North Korea, according to the Monday statement.

"These discussions reflect the close cooperation among our three countries and our continued focus on pursuing the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner," the statement continued.

North Korea declared itself a nuclear power in 2005 and conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013, having earlier withdrawn from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that it ratified in 1985.

The United States, Japan and South Korea, as well as Russia and China, took part in talks on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula with North Korea from 2003 until 2009, as Pyongyang withdrew from talks.