The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

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Posted: Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:22 PM

President Trump's National Security Adviser Has Secret Meeting In SF WIth Japan, South Korean Officials Over NOKO Nukes

President Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, secretly traveled to San Francisco over the weekend for a meeting on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, Fox News has confirmed.

According to sources, McMaster met with officials from South Korea and Japan, including Shotaro Yachi, the director of the Japanese national security council.

Kelly Wright reports from Washington, D.C.Video
Countries to discuss enforcing sanctions against North Korea
During the meeting, the group discussed the newly-resumed communications between North Korea and South Korea. They also agreed that these renewed communications – and agreement for North Korea to send athletes to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea next month -- are diversions and have no effect on North Korea leader Kim Jong Un’s nuclear weapons program, the sources said.


All sides agreed on the need to increase pressure on North Korea to give up its nuclear program.

Last month, during a speaking appearance in California, McMaster said the possibility of war with North Korea increases every day the problem over its nuclear program isn’t solved.

MCMASTER: POTENTIAL FOR WAR WITH NORTH KOREA INCREASES 'EVERY DAY'

“I think it’s increasing every day,” McMaster told Fox News’ Bret Baier at the Reagan National Security Forum in California. “It means we’re in a race. We’re in a race to be able to solve this problem.”

Added McMaster: “There are ways to address this problem short of armed conflict, but it is a race because he’s getting closer and closer and there’s not much time left.”

McMaster told Baier that North Korea dictator Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions are the gravest national security threat that America faces.

“The greatest immediate threat to the United States and to the world is the threat posed by the rogue regime in North Korea and his continued efforts to develop a long range nuclear capability,” he said.

McMaster added, “So it’s immensely important that we work together with all of our allies, partners, everyone internationally, to convince Kim Jong Un that the continued pursuit of these capabilities is a dead end for him and his regime.”

John Roberts currently serves as the chief White House correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network as a senior national correspondent in January 2011, based in the Atlanta bureau.
Alex Pappas is a politics reporter at FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlexPappas.