The United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) held a "productive" trilateral meeting Wednesday in Washington, exchanging views on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the State Department said. "The discussions reflect the ongoing close cooperation between the United States, Japan, and the ROK, as well as our common values and interests across the Asia-Pacific region," the U.S. State Department said in a statement. "We reaffirmed our commitment to the September 19, 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks, including its core goal of the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner. We also reaffirmed our commitment to the U.N. Security Council resolutions on the DPRK and the need for full and transparent implementation of those resolutions," the statement said. According to the State Department, the countries agreed that a path is still open for the DPRK to improve relations with them if it takes meaningful steps on denuclearization. "We also agreed on the importance of improvement in inter-Korean relations and the resolution of the abductions issue. We committed to maintaining our close bilateral and trilateral coordination on an on-going basis. We also look forward to continuing to engage with China, Russia, and other key partners on the DPRK," the State Department said.
