Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, U.S, Japan hold talks

Jun 22, 2021, 08:21 am

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Sung Kim, US special representative for North Korea, speaks during trilateral talks with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul on June 21, 2021./ Source from reporter Song Ui-joo

AsiaToday reporter Chun Hyun-bin

The chief representatives of South Korea, the United States and Japan met on Monday in Seoul to discuss the North Korean nuclear issue. Sung Kim, US special representative for North Korea, held a series of talks and revealed that the US is willing to meet North Korea for dialogue “anywhere, anytime, without preconditions.”

At the trilateral talks, Sung Kim and his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Noh Kyu-duk and Takehiro Funakoshi, agreed to continue cooperation to make substantive progress toward the complete denuclearization of and building permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula through the early resumption of dialogue with Pyongyang. The trilateral talks can be seen as a reflection of the Biden administration’s commitment to S. Korea-US-Japan cooperation.

Kim stressed the importance of trilateral cooperation, saying, “We’ve had very close bilateral and trilateral consultation in the progress of the U.S. policy review for North Korea. We look forward to continuing close consultation in the future.”

“We continue to hope that the DPRK will respond positively to our outreach and our offer to meet anywhere, anytime, without preconditions,” said Kim, referring to the North by its formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “We are still waiting to hear back from Pyongyang our proposal for a meeting. And hopefully Chairman Kim’s reference to dialogue indicates that we will get a positive response soon,” he said. This re-emphasizes the Biden administration’s ‘pragmatic and diplomatic approach’, and it is a re-proposal for an official dialogue with North Korea.

During the bilateral talks with the U.S, Noh revealed that South Korea will play a necessary role for the early resumption of dialogue with North Korea and said, “We wish to restore the structure where inter-Korean and U.S.-DPRK relations reinforce each other in a mutually beneficial way.” He added, “South Korea and the United States have decided to work together so that dialogue with North Korea can be resumed as soon as possible while maintaining close cooperation and stably managing the Korean Peninsula.”

During the bilateral talks with Japan, Noh said, “We shared the opinion that we should work together for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of lasting peace.” Funakoshi said, “We have been closely consulting in reviewing US policy toward North Korea. Today’s meeting will be another starting point for our policy consultation, I look forward to seeing results from the discussion.”

#South Korea #US #Japan #North Korea