[EPA/Yonhap News Photo]
WASHINGTON -- The United States will not lift sanctions until North Korea takes "concrete actions" to denuclearize, the White House said.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said at a press briefing that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to continue the "maximum pressure" campaign of economic and diplomatic sanctions until the North takes actions toward denuclearization.
"Certainly no sanctions lifted until we see concrete actions taken by North Korea to denuclearize," she said, adding the U.S. goal remains the "complete and total" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Trump is expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in May or June to talk about dismantling the regime's nuclear weapons program. The North has so far expressed a "commitment" to denuclearize in messages conveyed through South Korean officials. But Trump sowed confusion Sunday when he tweeted that the regime had "agreed" to denuclearize.
Asked to clarify the president's remark, Sanders said, "Certainly in a number of the conversations ... also South Korean President Moon, who has said that North Korea has expressed a will for complete denuclearization."
"We're not naive in this process," she added. "We've seen some steps in the right direction, but we have a long way to go."
(Yonhap)
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
