South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said Tuesday that his country was making best efforts to resume negotiations between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States on denuclearization of the
Korean Peninsula.
Kim made the remarks during a press conference with foreign correspondents in Seoul, saying the government was exerting its utmost efforts to "set conditions" for the resumption of the DPRK-US dialogue through the improved inter-Korean relations. He did not elaborate what the conditions would be.
The negotiation to completely denuclearize the Korean Peninsula has been stalled since the second summit between top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump ended without any agreement in late February in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.
"What's the most important at this point is the resumption of the DPRK-US negotiations as early as possible," said the top South Korean policymaker in charge of inter-Korean relations.
Despite the no-agreement summit in Hanoi, Pyongyang and Washington confirmed different views on major issues and what each other demanded, said Kim who noted that the confirmation was a fruit borne in the Hanoi summit.
Kim said Seoul has been making efforts to take a dialogue opportunity with Pyongyang, noting that various opinions have been recently presented for the resumed DPRK-US negotiations.
In his policy speech marking the First Session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) in mid-April, the DPRK leader said he could think of one more round of summit with the US president if the United States adopts a correct posture and comes to the third DPRK-US summit "with a certain methodology that can be shared with us."
The South Korean minister said a consensus of the comprehensive agreement with its phased implementations has been developed, from a broader perspective, in the denuclearization negotiations.
"What's the most important in the negotiations is trust, rather than technical issues," said Kim, calling for Pyongyang and Washington to try to find what each side should do to recover the weakened trust following the Hanoi summit.
