Jan 22, 2016 In response to North Korea’s nuclear test, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Antony Blinken recently held a trilateral meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts.
According to a statement by the South Korean foreign ministry, the meeting featured discussions on ways to boost mutual cooperation against North Korea’s recent nuclear test.
Also in attendance was U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, and South Korea’s First vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lim Sung-nam.
Speaking after the meeting, Blinken said:
“I am in full agreement with everything that my friend and colleague, the vice foreign minister, just said: we have extraordinarily close coordination and collaboration between our governments in facing these challenges. And it begins with the very close consultation between our presidents, between President Park and President Obama, and it is taking place at every level, civilian and military. And going forward as the vice foreign minister said, we’re working very closely together to get a strong and comprehensive resolution at the United Nations in New York,”
North Korea had earlier asserted that it reserved a sovereign right to conduct an hydrogen bomb test without being criticized.