US, S. Korean Officials Discuss Coordination On Denuclearizing Peninsula - State Dept.

US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan and South Korean National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-Sang during a meeting vowed that their respective countries will closely coordinate on efforts to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said in a press release

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th February, 2019) US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan and South Korean National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-Sang during a meeting vowed that their respective countries will closely coordinate on efforts to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said in a press release.

"The Deputy Secretary and National Assembly Speaker reaffirmed the ironclad alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea and pledged to maintain close coordination to ensure the final, fully verified denuclearization of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," Palladino said on Monday.

Both parties also affirmed their commitment to strengthening trilateral cooperation with Japan, he noted.

Earlier in the day, South Korean media reported that Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha may hold a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss North Korea later this week on the sidelines of a US-sponsored ministerial event in Warsaw.

US President Donald Trump announced in his State of the Union address last week that he would meet again with North Korea's leader Kin Jong Un in Vietnam on February 27-28. US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun and his North Korean counterpart Kim Hyok Chol held talks in Pyongyang on February 6-8 to prepare the ground for the second Trump-Kim summit.

The situation on the Korean Peninsula has improved over the past year after Seoul and Pyongyang concluded important agreements calling for peace and stability in the region, and Kim and Trump held a historic summit in Singapore in June 2018. During the summit, the sides reached an agreement stipulating that North Korea would make efforts towards complete denuclearization in exchange for the United States and South Korea freezing their military exercise and potentially lifting US sanctions.