US, South Korea to hold talks on North’s denuclearization

Seoul, Dec 6 (IANS) South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will hold talks in Washington on Thursday to discuss North Korea’s denuclearization among other issues, it was announced here.

During the talks, Kang and Pompeo will discuss issues of mutual concern, including a joint strategy on North Korea, according to South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk.

Kang is on a visit to the US as the head of the South Korean delegation to attend the funeral of former US President George H.W. Bush, Yonhap news agency reported.

This will be the first meeting between Kang and Pompeo in the last two months. The previous meeting took place in Seoul on October 7.

The top diplomats were expected to exchange views on an apparent stalemate in the dialogue with Pyongyang, the possibility of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s Seoul visit and his second summit with US President Donald Trump.

Trump on Sunday had said he planned to hold a second summit with Kim that could take place in January or February and three places were being considered for the meeting.

However, lack of progress in the denuclearization talks because of the absence of a roadmap in the agreement signed by the two leaders in Singapore in June prolonged any decision on the second summit.

The US has demanded that Pyongyang take substantial steps towards denuclearization while the latter has asked for security guarantees before it signs any peace agreement.