South Korea's Foreign Affairs Minister Kang Kyung-wha left for her talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Thursday morning.
Kang said we had talked over the phone after the Hanoi summit,and during this meeting, we will continue to share our evaluations on the developments in its talks with North Korea, as well as how we can cooperate to advance forward.
The two diplomats will be meeting in Washington Friday afternoon, local time, which is there first since the Hanoi summit late February.
Also on the table in Washington will be when and how to resume negotiations with the North.
They could also take up the issues of sanctions and inter-Korean cooperation.
And just minutes after, Seoul's Special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon also embarked on a separate flight heading directly to Washington.
Lee said "General matters on North Korea will be discussed at the minister's sitdown with Secretary of State Pompeo on Friday,while Washington's special representative Stephen Biegun and I will share the details.
America's top diplomat has once again highlighted the Trump administration's stance of pursuing continued pressure against North Korea until it achieves denuclearization.
U.S. lawmakers and other officials are also calling for steady pressure on the regime, especially as the recent Hanoi Summit ended with no agreement in hand. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reaffirmed Washington's goal of North Korea's final, fully verified denuclearization, stressing sanctions will continue until that goal is met.
In written remarks to the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the State Department's budget request for 2020, Pompeo explained that the Trump administration's diplomatic efforts with North Korea have been more successful than former U.S. administrations.
The remarks seem to confirm that the administration will carry out dialogue and pressure as denuclearization negotiations have hit a deadlock following last month's "no-deal" Hanoi summit.
U.S. lawmakers are also calling for continued sanctions until North Korea's denuclearization.
Brad Sherman, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation said during the subcommittee hearing that better sanctions are needed for better results. David Stilwell, nominee to be Washington's top diplomat for East Asia said during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday local timethat the U.S. will not ease pressure on North Korea.
He highlighted the need for steady pressure on North Korea.
There are still no response from North Korea in regards to South Korea's proposal to hold military talks and start recovering the remains of the war dead at the DMZ.
However last year the two Koreas actually took actions to lower military tensions after signing the military agreement at the September inter-Korean summit.
Seoul and Pyeongyang were to begin together recovering the remains of the war dead at the DMZ in Cheorwon, Gangwon-do Province in April.
But according to the defense ministry,Seoul has notified Pyeongyang that it's formed an excavation team but the North is yet to respond to it.
China has vowed to continue fully implementing UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea.
This is according to a joint statement signed between China and France after Chinese President Xi Jinping met this week with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
China, along with Russia, has been insisting that sanctions need to be eased as the North takes denuclearization steps.
But as permanent members of the Security Council, watchers say the statement shows China and France will go in step with the U.S. in achieving the regime's denuclearization.
Source: Arirang News
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