South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said the world would never accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons power while opening the door to a possible breakthrough in cooperation on deterrence with the U.S. and Japan when leaders from the nations meet in a landmark summit Friday.
Yoon expects the summit with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden will lead to agreement on ways to enhance their capabilities to respond to the nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, he said in a written interview with Bloomberg News before leaving for the meeting at the Camp David presidential retreat in rural Maryland.
"The complete denuclearization of North Korea is a clear and consistent goal of the international community, including the Republic of Korea and the United States,” Yoon said. "The international community will never accept North Korea as a nuclear power under any circumstances.”