4 January 2017, 06:12 GMT
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Thursday, U.S. Blinken, Japanese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Shinsuke Sugiyama, and Korean First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lim Sung-nam met in Washington, DC, for the sixth round of Trilateral Vice Foreign Ministerial consultations.
“Blinken underscored that the United States remains steadfast in its defense commitments to Japan and the ROK [Republic of Korea]… providing extended deterrence, backed by the full range of its nuclear and conventional defense capabilities,” the statement, issued by the State Department on Thursday, noted.
The trilateral series of meetings began in 2016 following North Korea’s nuclear tests and missile launches in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions that year, the fact sheet noted.
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