Anchor: The White House says that the U.S.’ goal remains the "complete and total" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and that no sanctions will be lifted until it sees concrete actions by the North. 
Kim In-kyung has this report. 

Report: The White House made clear that the U.S. won't lift sanctions against North Korea until it takes "concrete actions" to denuclearize. 

[Sound bite: White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders]
"We're not going to make mistakes from previous administrations and we're not going to take the North Koreans simply at their word."

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a press briefing on Monday that the U.S. will continue the maximum pressure campaign of economic and diplomatic sanctions until the North takes actions toward "complete and total" denuclearization.

[Sound bite: White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders]
"Like I said before and we've said many times before, the maximum pressure campaign is going to continue until we see concrete actions taken by, look we were not naive in this process. We've seen some steps in the right direction, but we have a long way to go."

The comments came after the North announced last week that it would suspend nuclear and missile tests and shut down a major nuclear test site, declaring a new policy line focused on the economy over nuclear development. But the North fell short of declaring that it would dismantle its nuclear arsenal. 

During the briefing, Sanders was also asked multiple times to clarify what President Donald Trump meant when he tweeted on Sunday that North Korea "agreed" to denuclearize. 

She cited President Moon Jae-in, who has said that North Korea has expressed a will to fully denuclearize to the international community. 

Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said Monday that there are "a lot of reasons for optimism" that negotiations on the denuclearization of North Korea will be fruitful. 
Kim In-kyung, KBS World Radio News. 

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