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U.S. President Donald Trump (left) and North Korean State Affairs Commission President Kim Jong-un talk at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Panmunjom on June 30, 2019. / Reuters Yonhap

The U.S. administration of Donald Trump stated on the 26th (local time) that its policy goal of the "complete denuclearization" of North Korea remains unchanged and will be maintained.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson responded to South Korean media outlets including Yonhap News asking whether they could reaffirm that the Trump administration's goal is still the complete denuclearization of North Korea, stating that "the U.S. remains committed to the complete denuclearization of North Korea."

Another U.S. official also stated on the same day that "there has been no change in U.S. policy."

This marks the first time the U.S. administration has stated an official position regarding North Korea's denuclearization after President Trump ordered a significant downsizing of the annual joint South Korea-U.S. exercise "Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS)" this month and expressed his intention to meet with North Korean State Affairs Commission President Kim Jong-un.

Amid mounting concerns over whether Washington might effectively acquiesce to North Korea's nuclear weapons to broker dialogue with President Kim, officials across the administration, including the State Department, are seen as having formalized that there is no change in the goal of North Korean denuclearization.

Since the 15th, President Trump has posted messages proposing the resumption of dialogue with President Kim on his social media multiple times.

He posted a photo taken when meeting with President Kim in Panmunjom in June 2019, writing that he "gets along very well with Kim Jong-un," and announced the following day that he had ordered the downsizing of the UFS. On the 17th of the same month, he stated that President Kim had responded to the offer of talks.

On the 19th, he previewed to reporters at the White House that he would meet with President Kim, confirming that "North Korea possesses 57 very powerful nuclear weapons," the New York Post (NYP) and other outlets reported.

The veracity of the statement that North Korea has 57 nuclear weapons has not been independently verified. Experts analyzed that this is a realistically plausible figure and that the actual number could be higher, U.S. online media outlet Axios reported.

At the time on site, when asked whether resuming relations with President Kim is still aimed at denuclearization, President Trump declined to answer, saying, "I don't want to talk about that."

While a specific date for a meeting between the two leaders was not mentioned, the possibility has been raised that they could meet in China during their visit to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November this year.

                                                                                                             Kim Hyun-min