U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter called on North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program during a visit Sunday to the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas.
Carter traveled to the DMZ from Seoul and walked up to Observation Post Ouellete, the closest point where South Korea's side of the DMZ meets with the North's.
Pyongyang abandoned negotiations on its nuclear program in 2009 conducted with five other nations, including China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. Carter said Washington remains committed to the negotiations, and called on the communist country to return to the talks.
"They should be on a path of doing less, and ultimately zero, in the nuclear field," Carter told reporters.
Carter will attend a joint U.S.- South Korea security meeting in Seoul later Sunday.