U.S., N. Korea coordinating schedule for denuclearization negotiations: Seoul foreign ministry
The United States and North Korea are coordinating a schedule for the top American diplomat's visit to Pyongyang and follow-up denuclearization negotiations.
The United States and North Korea are coordinating a schedule for the top American diplomat's visit to Pyongyang and follow-up denuclearization negotiations, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday.
In its parliamentary briefing, the ministry also reiterated Seoul's goal to achieve the declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War this year, despite Washington's reported reluctance about the early declaration before Pyongyang takes tangible steps toward denuclearization, Yonhap reports.
During the future negotiations (between the U.S. and the North), the concrete sequence of the denuclearization process, ways to guarantee the North's security and the normalization of U.S.-North Korea relations in conjunction with denuclearization are expected to be at issue," the ministry said in the briefing.
Media speculation has risen that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will soon travel to the communist state for a fourth visit following the latest one last month, with an apparent aim to break the perceived impasse in the denuclearization talks.
During the historic June summit in Singapore, U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to build "new" bilateral ties, foster a "lasting and stable" peace regime and pursue the complete denuclearization of the peninsula.
The North has suspended its nuclear and missile tests, closed its main nuclear test site and repatriated 55 sets of remains of American troops killed during the Korean War. However, it has yet to take substantive disarmament steps such as a clear declaration of its nuclear and missile programs.
In the briefing, the ministry reaffirmed that it will strive to ensure that steps for the establishment of a peace regime on the peninsula, such as the end-of-war declaration, will be taken as soon as possible.
Source: Kazinform News Agency
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