Unified response to DPRK mulled at Canada-U.S. security talks

OTTAWA, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson here Tuesday with the two sides discussing collaboration in international security and regional trade, the Prime Minister's Office said.

They discussed the importance of a unified response to the threat posed by the nuclear and missile tests conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as well as the situation in Venezuela.

They also discussed the importance of concluding negotiations on a revamped North American Free Trade Agreement, which has Mexico as the third signatory.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland announced earlier Tuesday that Canada and the United States will co-host a Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Security and Stability on the Korean Peninsula in Vancouver on Jan. 16, 2018. Most of the countries involved in the Korean War (1950-1953) have been invited to the Vancouver meeting.

Calling the security threat posed by the DPRK a global challenge that affects all, Freeland said a diplomatic solution is both essential and possible. "We will continue to work with our allies and regional partners, including the United States, Japan and South Korea, in pursuing our common objective of a secure and stable Korean Peninsula," Freeland said.

Tillerson said the international community was continuing to find ways to advance the pressure campaign against the DPRK and send a unified message from the international community: "We will not accept you as a nuclear weapons nation. We share one goal -- full and complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

This display of solidarity, he said, was an indication to the DPRK that the rest of the world was prepared to talk. "We can't talk unless North Korea (DPRK) is ready to talk. We're waiting for them to indicate a readiness to talk. This pressure campaign will not abate. We will not be rolling any of it back," he said. Enditem