South Korean, US Senior Security Officials Discuss Relations With Pyongyang - Reports

US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines met with South Korean National Security Advisor Suh Hoon over lunch to discuss revamping of diplomatic ties with Pyongyang, Yonhap news agency reported Monday, citing sources

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2021) US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines met with South Korean National Security Advisor Suh Hoon over lunch to discuss revamping of diplomatic ties with Pyongyang, Yonhap news agency reported Monday, citing sources.

Haines and Suh Hoon focused on security issues in the region following a recent series of missile launches by North Korea, Yonhap said.

The two might have also discussed the proposal made earlier by South Korean President Moon Jae-in to formally declare the end to the 1950-1953 Korean War in a bid to maintain peaceful coexistence on the peninsula and renew dialogue with Pyongyang, according to the news agency.

Earlier on Monday, Yonhap said that the heads of intelligence agencies from South Korea, the United States and Japan were expected to hold a closed-door meeting in Seoul to discuss the security situation on the Korean peninsula. Whether the meeting took place so far remains unclear.

In October, North Korea announced that it test-fired a newly-developed anti-aircraft missile. The missile tests were criticized at a United Nations Security Council closed-door meeting, which Pyongyang called an infringement on its sovereignty.