FILE PHOTO: U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan attends a press conference at the U.S. embassy in Beijing, China August 29, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There is a risk North Korea may try to exploit the domestic political turmoil in South Korea and it is in Washington's interest to help resolve the issue, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Friday.
Sullivan told reporters in a briefing on the outgoing Biden administration's policies towards Asia that the U.S.-South Korean alliance remains strong, despite domestic political issues in Seoul.
Sullivan also said the trend on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was headed in the wrong direction, a reference to North Korea's expanding nuclear weapons program.
He said embattled South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived declaration of martial law last year was shocking and wrong but country will emerge as strong democracy committed to the U.S. alliance.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, David Brunnstrom and Katharine Jackson)
