SEOUL: South Korean President Moon Jae-In said on Monday the United States and North Korea should both give ground so they can sit down to talks to try to resolve a nuclear standoff, a day after Pyongyang expressed willingness for dialogue.
South Korea has engaged in a flurry of talks with North Korean officials since January, hoping to improve relations with the South’s just concluded Winter Olympics as a catalyst for rapprochement.
North Korea is developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of reaching the US mainland and US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un exchanged increasingly bellicose taunts before a sudden puncturing of tensions coinciding with the Games, with the North sending athletes and delegates.
“Recently, North Korea has shown it is open to actively engaging the United States in talks and the United States is talking about the importance of dialogue,” Moon said during a meeting in Seoul with Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Yandong.
“There is a need for the United States to lower the threshold for talks with North Korea and North Korea should show it is willing to denuclearise. It’s important the United States and North Korea sit down together quickly,” he said, according to a statement from his office.
The United States, which stations 28,500 troops in South Korea, says any talks with North Korea must lead to an end to its nuclear programme. Washington on Friday announced its largest package of sanctions yet.
North Korea condemned the move, accusing the United States of trying to undermine the improvement in inter-Korean relations.
A high-level delegation from North Korea has been visiting Seoul and meeting South Korean officials, including Moon, after attending the Olympics’ closing ceremony in Pyeongchang on Sunday.
The delegation told Moon during a meeting in Pyeongchang that North Korea was open to talks with Washington.
The North Koreans attended a dinner hosted by Unification Minister Cho Myong-Gyon, where participants agreed to keep working to boost inter-Korean ties, the ministry said.
Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-Hyun said he hoped constructive talks between North Korea and the United States could begin when “an appropriate opportunity” arises.
The North Korean delegation, led by former military intelligence chief Kim Yong-Chol, met Chung Eui-Yong, security adviser for the presidential Blue House, and other South Korean government officials for lunch on Monday. — Reuters
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