US 'prepared To Engage' With N Korea In Nuclear Talks: Envoy
Umer Jamshaid Published August 21, 2019 | 01:48 PM
The United States is ready to sit down with North Korea to resume long-awaited working-level nuclear talks, a US envoy said Wednesday
Seoul, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Aug, 2019 ) :The United States is ready to sit down with North Korea to resume long-awaited working-level nuclear talks, a US envoy said Wednesday.
Nuclear discussions between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled since a second summit in Hanoi in February ended without an agreement over differences on the extent of denuclearisation and sanctions relief in return.
But anticipation for renewed dialogue has been on the rise after the US and its security ally South Korea wrapped up their two-week joint military drill on Tuesday.
"We are prepared to engage as soon as we hear from our counterparts in North Korea," said Stephen Biegun, the US special representative for North Korea, after his meeting with South Korean counterpart Lee Do-hoon in Seoul.
The comments come amid speculation that Americans could meet with North Koreans at the demilitarised zone dividing the North and South to kick start working-level talks during Biegun's three-day stay in Seoul, which began Tuesday.
The US envoy denied media reports he would soon take a diplomatic posting in Russia, saying he remained "focused on making progress" with North Koreans and "fully committed" to the goal of the denuclearisation in the North.
Pyongyang considers the joint military exercise by the allies a rehearsal for invasion and has routinely expressed anger at the war games.
The drills are a "grave military provocation" and a "challenge to and mockery of our efforts for peace", the North's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said Wednesday in a commentary.
The piece also said that the North's own "measures for bolstering up military capability for self-defence" are consequently "very just ones", in reference to a slew of missile launches in recent weeks.
It added the drills are an "open disregard and wanton violation" of the joint statement adopted in the first US-North summit in Singapore last year, in which US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to pursue new US-North relations for "peace and prosperity".
North Korea last week called South Korean President Moon Jae-in an "impudent guy rare to be found" for hoping to resume inter-Korean talks while continuing military drills with the US.
Washington stations nearly 30,000 troops in the South to defend it from its neighbour.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Saudi Assistant Minister of Defence calls on army chief
Currency Rate In Pakistan - Dollar, Euro, Pound, Riyal Rates On 19 April 2024
Today Gold Rate in Pakistan 19 April 2024
Rock-solid Ruud racks up season-leading win in Barcelona
At UN, Iran says it will make Israel 'regret' reprisals
G7 hears calls for 'critical' Ukraine aid
EU seeks to leverage might to confront China, US challenge
5 Customs officials martyred as their vehicle ambushed by terrorists in D I Khan
Pak-New Zealand match called off due to rain
NHA restores traffic on roads affected by recent rains in Balochistan
China to fully support Pakistan's efforts against terrorism: Ambassador Jiang
U.S. envoy calls on Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar
More Stories From World
-
IAEA says 'no damage to Iran's nuclear sites'
6 minutes ago -
The flamenco dress, an Andalusian classic evolving with fashion
16 minutes ago -
Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' drops
16 minutes ago -
Tokyo's Nikkei drops over 1,000 points, most in 3 years
16 minutes ago -
Alternate jurors to be confirmed at Trump trial
26 minutes ago -
Ambassador Munir Akram discusses issues on UN agenda with Iran's top diplomat
26 minutes ago
-
New Zealand ram put down after death of elderly couple
36 minutes ago -
Three killed, 20 injured in Russian strikes on southern Ukraine
46 minutes ago -
Biden steps up campaign with Trump 'busy' in court
1 hour ago -
US 'swatting' pranks stoke alarm in election year
1 hour ago -
US veto sinks Palestinian UN membership bid in Security Council
2 hours ago -
Duplantis to unleash 'inner' pole vault contest as Olympics beckon
2 hours ago