Biden administration completes North Korea review process

The Biden administration has completed its months-long North Korea policy review, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced Friday.

“I can confirm that we’ve completed our DPRK policy review, which was thorough, rigorous and inclusive. We consulted closely with outside experts and our predecessors from several previous administrations, and our way forward draws from their lessons learned and shared,” Psaki told reporters aboard Air Force One in response to a question from CNN’s Arlette Saenz.

The administration’s goal, she said, is complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula “with a clear understanding that the efforts of the past four administrations have not achieved this objective.”

The US policy going forward, she said, will be a “calibrated, practical approach.”

“Our policy will not focus on achieving a grand bargain, nor will it rely on strategic patience. Our policy calls for a calibrated practical approach that is open to and will explore diplomacy with the DPRK, and to make practical progress that increases the security of the United States are allies and deployed forces,” she said.

As they have been conducting this North Korea policy review, officials have engaged in heavy consultation across the government and in Asia, as well as high-level consultations with former Trump administration officials. The end of the review comes after President Joe Biden met with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, and one day after the White House announced Biden will be meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on May 21.

The US has been in “close touch with allies and partners” throughout the review process. Biden discussed it with Suga while he was in Washington, Psaki said, adding that it’s been discussed at “every level.”

This is a breaking story and will be updated.