White House: Biden Seeks Unconditional Meeting with North Korean Leader

In a significant development, the spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, John Kirby, reaffirmed President Joe Biden's readiness to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "without preconditions" to discuss nuclear disarmament on the Korean Peninsula. 

Kirby, in an interview with the Japanese news agency Kyodo, stated that while the North Korean side has not responded positively to this offer, the proposal remains on the table, and the U.S. is prepared to sit down and negotiate without preconditions.

Addressing the lack of response from Pyongyang to the Biden administration's overtures, Kirby emphasized the need to ensure readiness in all other aspects to defend national security and the interests of Korean and Japanese allies. He stated that this entails bolstering capabilities in the region, and future considerations for such actions will be assessed if necessary.

Responding to statements by a South Korean parliamentarian regarding indications of North Korea's readiness to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile coinciding with the first-ever standalone trilateral summit between the leaders of the United States, South Korea, and Japan, the White House National Security spokesperson remarked, "There may be some kind of provocative action, but we don't know what that would look like, and it would not be productive to spend too much time worrying about it."

Kirby made these statements a day before Biden's preparations to host a trilateral summit with the Japanese and South Korean leaders, where North Korea's rapid development of nuclear and missile capabilities will be a major item on the agenda.

According to senior officials involved in the preparations for the upcoming summit at the U.S. presidential retreat in Camp David near Washington, Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are expected to agree on enhancing deterrence capabilities to better respond to North Korea's aggression, as well as the rising military power of China.