▲ The State Department in Washington. (Yonhap)

US-Xi-Kim summit

State Dept. repeats Trump, Xi's shared goal of denuclearizing N. Korea

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, June 8 (Yonhap) -- The State Department reiterated Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed their commitment to denuclearizing North Korea during their summit in Beijing last month, hours after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Xi held talks in Pyongyang.

During the summit with Kim, Xi called for the two countries to strengthen bilateral trust and practical cooperation, underscoring that "no matter how the international situation changes," China's stance on the traditional friendship with the North will not change, according to China's Xinhua News Agency.

"In Beijing, President Trump and President Xi confirmed their shared goal to denuclearize North Korea," a spokesperson for the department tersely said, responding to Yonhap News Agency's request for comment on the summit between Kim and Xi.

The department issued the same statement last week ahead of Xi's trip to North Korea.

The remarks apparently underlined the Trump administration's expectations for China's cooperation in bringing North Korea back to dialogue and encouraging it to shift toward denuclearization.

Pyongyang has been adamant in its rejection of any calls for denuclearization.

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader, said recently that the North's status as a nuclear-armed country is "irreversible," describing it as a "line of no retreat."

Speculation has lingered that Trump might have sought Xi's cooperation in resuming dialogue with Kim during last month's summit in Beijing, given that Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to restart engagement with the reclusive leader in Pyongyang.

The summit between Xi and Kim came as the Chinese leader sought to enhance relations with North Korea, which has been deepening its military, diplomatic and economic cooperation with Russia.

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