WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department reiterated Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed their commitment to denuclearizing North Korea during their summit in Beijing last month, hours after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Xi held talks in Pyongyang. After arriving in North Korea on Monday (local time), Xi held a summit with Kim, calling for the two countries to strengthen political trust and expand practical cooperation, according to China’s Xinhua News Agency. There have been no reports that Xi referred to denuclearization or the “Korean Peninsula issue” during the meeting. “In Beijing, President Trump and President Xi confirmed their shared goal to denuclearize North Korea,” a spokesperson for the department tersely said, responding to Yonhap News Agency’s request for comment on the summit between Kim and Xi. The department issued the same statement last week ahead of Xi’s trip to North Korea. The spokesperson’s remarks apparently underlined the Trump administration’s expectations for China’s cooperation in bringing North Korea back t
