The top US nuclear envoy pointed out the need Tuesday for “interim steps” to be taken on a path towards North Korea’s ultimate denuclearization, which she stressed would not happen “overnight.”
US Senior Official for North Korea Jung Pak made the remarks while reiterating Washington’s “clear” goal to pursue the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
On Monday, Mira Rapp-Hooper, the US National Security Council senior director for East Asia and Oceania, also said that Washington will consider “interim steps” — a statement that raised speculation about a potential US policy shift.
“I don’t want to prejudge that as a final step,” she said at a forum hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “But I think it goes without saying that there would have to be interim steps toward ultimate denuclearization.”
