H.R. McMaster was in San Francisco on Saturday and Sunday for secret meetings about North Korea. He met with Shotaro Yachi, the director of the Japanese national security council, along with the South Koreans.

Why this matters: The group agreed that resumed communications by the North Koreans are diversions and don’t have any effect on its determined pursuit of nuclear weapons. The group agreed they need to put more unified pressure on the north.

Backdrop: