White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on the 13th that “there will be a well-coordinated response at the trilateral level” in relation to North Korea’s response to the seventh nuclear test.
At a briefing held on the flight from Cambodia to Indonesia, aide Sullivan said, “The three heads of state have coordinated a joint response in case North Korea conducts its seventh nuclear test.”
When asked about specific countermeasures at the three-way level in the event of North Korea’s nuclear test, he said, “The heads of the three countries have instructed working-level officials to work on specific countermeasures,” but he said, “I will not comment on the measures in advance.”
“If North Korea conducts its 7th nuclear test, countermeasures including security, economy, and diplomacy are being discussed intensively among the three countries, but it is important to leave space for working-level officials to coordinate various responses,” he said.
“We have made it clear that North Korea’s nuclear test is a blatant violation of many UN Security Council resolutions and a threat to peace and security,” he said.
Regarding the joint statement at the Korea-U.S.-Japan summit, Sullivan said, “The joint statement released after the summit is unprecedented in terms of depth and scope of issues. Issues of peace and stability in the strait and the need to deepen economic and technological cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region were also discussed, he said.
“President Biden had an opportunity to discuss tomorrow’s meeting with the leaders of both countries and with Chinese President Xi Jinping, respectively,” said Sullivan, referring to the summit between the US and Japan, which took place before the summit. “The president explained to the leaders of both countries what he was planning to do in Bali and made sure they were working well with their closest allies,” he said.
President Biden is scheduled to hold his first face-to-face summit with the President of the Republic of Korea on the 14th in Bali, where the G20 summit will be held.
Regarding the agenda and content of the U.S.-China summit, Sullivan said, “President Biden said that while the United States is prepared to compete fiercely with China, it does not seek conflict and will manage competition responsibly, and that all countries, including the United States and China, will will make it clear that we must act according to established rules, including freedom of navigation, and refrain from using threats or coercion.”
“President Biden will make it clear that he is genuinely willing to cooperate in areas where the interests of the United States and China are aligned, including climate change and public health,” he said.
“President Biden and President Xi will continue to engage in frank and direct dialogue to broaden their understanding and come up with ways to responsibly manage competition between the two countries,” he said.
When asked whether the Biden administration was ‘resetting’ the US-China relationship, he replied, “The Biden administration does not use that phrase.” He reiterated his public diplomacy principle of ‘cooperation in the field of responsible competition management and alignment of interests’.
Sullivan said the US-China summit could be more than two hours long.