Obama, Xi press North Korea to denuclearize

U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping Saturday (local time) agreed to push for the denuclearization of North Korea, officials said.

The two leaders reached the agreement at two days of a summit meeting in the desert oasis of Rancho Mirage, California.

“They agreed that North Korea has to denuclearize, that neither country will accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state and that we would work together to deepen cooperation and dialogue to achieve denuclearization,”

White House national security adviser Tom Donilon told reporters, after the meeting.

It marked their first meeting since Xi took office in March. North Korea was high on the agenda.

Beijing has said that the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is needed to ensure stability in Northeast Asia.