US, Japan Explore Prospects For Future Engagement With N. Korea - State Dept.

Deputy US Secretary of State and envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun ended two days of talks with Japanese counterparts on a path toward resuming dialogue with Pyongyang and leveraging the US-Japan alliance to maintain security throughout the Indo-Pacific region, the State Department said in a readout of the visit on Friday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2020) Deputy US Secretary of State and envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun ended two days of talks with Japanese counterparts on a path toward resuming dialogue with Pyongyang and leveraging the US-Japan alliance to maintain security throughout the Indo-Pacific region, the State Department said in a readout of the visit on Friday.

"During his July 9-10 visit to Tokyo... Deputy Secretary Biegun emphasized continued US readiness to engage in dialogue with the DPRK [North Korea] and discussed the importance of continued close cooperation with Japan and other like-minded partners on promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific," the readout said.

Biegun met with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Defense Minister Taro Kono, Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba and other officials during the visit, which also included talks on the novel coronavirus pandemic and efforts to develop vaccines and medicines to combat the disease, the readout added.

US-North Korea diplomacy foundered following the collapse of a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam in 2019 in a dispute over Pyongyang's offer to dismantle its main nuclear complex in exchange for sanctions relief.

The United States and its allies viewed the proposal as a limited denuclearization step instead of the complete denuclearization sought by Washington.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula surged since the Kim-Trump summit, as illustrated by North Korea's demolition of a North-South liaison office in the border city of Kaesong last month, according to media reports.