Earlier this month， President Trump spoke with you， Acting President Hwang， to reaffirm the strength of our alliance. As I reassured you today， we will continue to closely consult with South Korea and your leadership as we make decisions moving forward.
We also call on other regional powers and the entire international community to join us to confront North Korea and demand that it abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs， to turn away from renewed hostility towards its neighbors， and to end the repression of its own people.
Earlier this month， President Trump met with Chinese President Xi at the Southern White House. The two leaders noted the urgency of the threat posed by North Korea’s weapons programs and each of them reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearized Korean Peninsula during that meeting on April 7th.
They also committed to fully implement U.N. Security Council resolutions， and to increase cooperation to convince North Korea to abandon its illicit weapons programs.
It is heartening to see China commit to these actions. But the United States is troubled by China’s economic retaliation against South Korea for taking appropriate steps to defend itself. The better path would be for China to address the North Korean threat that is actually making such defensive measures necessary.
Now while issues like that remain， the President and I have great confidence that China will properly deal with North Korea， but as President Trump made clear just a few short days ago， if China is unable to deal with North Korea， the United States， and our allies， will.
So today it is my privilege， on behalf of President Trump， to reaffirm the United States’ enduring commitment to the security and prosperity of South Korea and to assure the people of South Korea of our unbreakable bond. We are bound together by our shared values， but also by our shared sacrifice. A free and democratic South Korea was forged in the fires of sacrifice by soldiers from both our lands. And my father was one of them.
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