Good afternoon. I'd like to start by thanking Under Secretary Jenkins and her team for hosting us at the State Department today. I'd also like to thank First Vice Minister Kim and Deputy Minister Cho for their significant contributions to our productive meeting.
Our governments have made historic progress on extended deterrence cooperation over the past year, including through the EDSCG dialogue today and the work of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG). The EDSCG serves as a key forum for the U.S.-ROK Alliance to discuss integrating and coordinating all levers of national power – diplomatic, informational, military, and economic – to address security challenges affecting the Korean Peninsula and the broader Indo-Pacific region.
Today, we discussed the dangerous and irresponsible behavior of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), including the ongoing expansion, diversification, and improvement of nuclear and non-nuclear capabilities as well as the growing DPRK-Russia strategic partnership, which violates several UN Security Council Resolutions.
We remain committed to taking appropriate actions in response to destabilizing DPRK activities. The U.S. commitment to the ROK is enduring and ironclad. Any nuclear attack by the DPRK against the United States or its allies and partners is unacceptable and will result in the end of that regime.
However, our goal remains the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We remain willing to engage in dialogue with the DPRK, without preconditions. We will also continue to urge the DPRK and Russia to abide by UNSC resolutions.
We look forward to working together with the ROK, across all our extended deterrence forums, to engage in deeper, cooperative efforts to further strengthen our extended deterrence cooperation. Let me take a moment to again thank U/S Jenkins, First Vice Minister Kim, and Deputy Minister Cho for the thoughtful, productive discussion today.