A senior Washington official says North Korea will be able to fully join President Moon Jae-in’s “East Asian Railway Community” initiative on the condition it denuclearizes completely. 

Mark Knapper, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Japan and Korea, who until recently served as acting US ambassador to South Korea, made the remark at a forum in Seoul on Wednesday. 

Referring to U.S. President Donald Trump’s promise of a "bright future" for the North in return for a "wise choice," Knapper said the railway community can help usher in a better future for the regime by integrating it with the international community. 

However, he also made clear that concrete progress on the project is not possible without actual progress on denuclearization. 

He said the U.S. and the international community will not agree on lifting sanctions on the North, which is a precondition to actualizing the railway community, unless the regime follows through with final, fully verified denuclearization(FFVD).