Singapore: US Secretary of Defence James Mattis (left), Japan's Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera (centre) and South Korea's Defence Minister Song Young-moo leaving after a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 17th Asian Security Summit of the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue here on Sunday — AFP SINGAPORE, June 03 (Agencies): Defence Secretary Jim Mattis is warning it will be a "bumpy road" to the nuclear negotiations with North Korea later this month.
He is telling his South Korean and Japanese counterparts they must maintain a strong defensive stance so the diplomats can negotiate from a position of strength.
Mattis spoke at the start of a meeting with South Korean Defence Minister Song Young-moo and Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera at the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference.
He says strengthening the allies' Defence cooperation is the best path to peace.
Song says allies must be cautious, but some of Pyongyang's recent steps are reasons to be optimistic.
Plans are moving forward for a nuclear weapons summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12.
Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he plans to visit North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, Pyongyang's state media reported on Sunday.
"I am going to visit the DPRK and meet... Kim Jong Un," Assad said, the North's state-run KCNA news agency reported, using the abbreviated version of the country's official name.
The announcement came as anticipation mounts for a historic nuclear summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12, following a whirlwind round of diplomacy.
"The world welcomes the remarkable events in the Korean peninsula brought about recently by the outstanding political calibre and wise leadership of... Kim Jong Un," KCNA cited Assad as saying during a meeting with North Korean Ambassador Mun Jong Nam on Wednesday.
The Syrian president's office refused to comment on the report when contacted by the news agency.
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