US President Donald Trump raised human rights abuses by the North Korean government during his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore this week, the White House says.
"As the president has already publicly stated ... he did bring up human rights abuses of the North Korean regime," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters at a briefing on Thursday.
The comment came as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo conveyed the US resolve for "complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation" of the Korean Peninsula with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the State Department said, as well as concerns about Chinese activities in the South China Sea.
Pompeo told Xi and other Chinese leaders during a meeting in Beijing that Washington "wants a lasting and stable peace regime" in the region, the department said.
"Secretary Pompeo reaffirmed our deep concerns about the building and militarising of outposts in the South China Sea, as those actions increase tensions, complicate and escalate disputes, endanger the free flow of trade, and undermine regional stability," the statement said.
Australian Associated Press
