WASHINGTON (Kyodo) Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton agreed Thursday to start working out new common strategic goals to deepen the security alliance amid a challenging environment in East Asia.
During talks at the State Department, Maehara and Clinton agreed that North Korea must cease its provocative actions and take concrete steps to abandon its nuclear arms program before dialogue with Washington can be held or the six-party talks on denuclearizing Pyongyang can resume.
Clinton said she and Maehara agreed to hold the so-called two-plus-two meeting involving the defense and foreign ministers of both sides "in the coming months."