South Korea’s National Security Adviser Kim Kwan-jin and his soon-to-be American counterpart under the incoming Donald Trump administration have agreed that North Korea’s nuclear program will never be tolerated.

Kim told reporters in Washington on Tuesday said he saw eye to eye on the matter during a meeting with retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who was tapped to be Trump's national security adviser.

Kim said that he and Flynn shared the view that Pyongyang's nuclear and missile development is a grave and urgent security issue that threatens the peace and stability of Northeast Asia.

They agreed that it is necessary to lead the North onto a path toward denuclearization through practical sanctions and pressure.

Likening the South Korea-U.S. alliance to a “sticky rice cake,” Flynn is also said to have expressed a strong will to further strengthen the bilateral partnership.

The two also pledged to strengthen coordination in order to achieve a smooth deployment of a U.S. THAAD battery in South Korea.

Regarding the diplomatic row between South Korea and Japan over the erection of a girl statue in Busan that symbolizes victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery, Kim said the issue was not discussed.

[Photo : ]