US Envoy For N. Korea Says Washington Does Not Have Deadline For Denuclearization Talks

SEOUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th December, 2019) US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun said on Monday that Washington does not have a deadline for denuclearization talks with Pyongyang.

Biegun is currently on a visit to South Korea and Japan where he holds a number of meetings on North Korean issue with his counterparts.

"Let me be absolutely clear. The US does not have a deadline. We have a goal to fulfill the commitments the two leaders made during their historic summit meeting in Singapore," Biegun said after the meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Do-hoon, as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.

Biegun added that Washington was not going to give up and intended to continue denuclearization talks despite relatively small progress reached over the past year.

After the failure of the US-North Korea summit in Vietnam in February, Pyongyang officially committed itself to ending nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles. This pledge did not, however, extend to engine tests, or launches of satellites or medium- and short-range ballistic missiles.

In October, Pyongyang gave the US until the end of the year to come up with a mutually acceptable deal to advance the denuclearization process. North Korea's vice foreign minister, Ri Thae Song, said that the dialogue on denuclearization promoted by Washington was no more than a "foolish trick" being used in favor of the political situation in the US and warned of a "Christmas gift."