U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a virtual meeting with the three other leaders from the Quad member countries ― Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan, from the White House in Washington, D.C., Friday. AFP-Yonhap

Joint statement suggests Biden uninterested in Singapore agreement

By Yi Whan-woo

The leaders of the United States, Japan, Australia and India have vowed to focus on denuclearization of North Korea in a joint statement after their first summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or "Quad," held online, Friday.

The pledge narrows down the focus of denuclearization from the entire Korean Peninsula as stipulated in an agreement reached between then-U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their 2018 summit in Singapore, to just the North.

The North is mentioned once in the five-point statement, which reads, "We reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions, and also confirm the necessity of immediate resolution of the issue of Japanese abductees."

Noting the security coalition of the four nations, regarded as anti-China alliance, is led by the U.S., analysts said Sunday the joint statement hints that U.S. President Joe Biden is not heavily interested in implementing the Singapore summit agreement.

This also suggests a potential rift between the U.S. and South Korea over North Korea policy.

The Moon Jae-in administration wants to create a favorable environment for the North to bring it back on table for nuclear negotiations and to formally end the Korean War.