BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that Washington, Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo are "absolutely united" in their efforts to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program.
Kerry made the remarks after holding bilateral talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of a regional security forum here. He also held three-way talks with the top diplomats of South Korea and Japan before meeting with Wang.
"All four of us are absolutely united and absolutely firm in our insistence that the future with respect to North Korea must include denuclearization," Kerry said in a press conference.
Kerry said the Chinese foreign minister Wang "made it clear to me" the importance of a "verifiable denuclearization" of North Korea and that the two sides agreed to "strengthen our cooperation" on efforts aimed at denuclearizing the North.
Kerry was in Brunei for the 27-member ASEAN Regional Forum that opened on Monday.
