White House National Security Adviser John Bolton held separate meetings Thursday with his counterparts from South Korea and Japan in preparation for talks with North Korea.
Mr. Bolton met with National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong of South Korea and Secretary General of the National Security Secretariat Shotaro Yachi of Japan, an administration official said. They are the first foreign national security advisers to meet with Mr. Bolton since he started in his new post on Monday.
“The national security advisers committed to continue coordinating closely,” the official said.
The discussions were to lay the groundwork for an upcoming inter-Korean summit in late April, and talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Trump in May or early June. North Korea has expressed a willingness to the U.S. to discuss denuclearization.
Mr. Trump will hold meetings next week with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Florida in preparation for the North Korea talks.
Mr. Bolton’s session with Mr. Chung was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but was delayed a day due to Mr. Bolton’s work on the Syria crisis.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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