The United States is focused on diplomatic and economic pressure to denuclearize North Korea, the acting US ambassador to South Korea said Monday, reaffirming the US commitment to its security alliance with Seoul.
"Together we and the Republic of Korea are facing the most acute threat which is North Korea, and the threats posed by North Korea's unlawful ballistic missile and nuclear programs are grave," Marc Knapper, acting US ambassador to South Korea, said in a speech to the first ROK-US Joint Public-Private Economic Forum.
"Our administration in Washington had made it very clear that we seek a peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Knapper said. "We are working closely with our partners in Seoul, Tokyo and elsewhere to apply the maximum diplomatic, political and economic pressure on North Korea. These are tools we are very focused on using in close cooperation with allies."