South Korea vows to coordinate with US for early resumption of nuke talks with North Korea

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Joe Biden / EPA-Yonhap

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday it will continue to coordinate with the United States to help encourage Washington to resume long-stalled denuclearization talks with Pyongyang at an early date.

The U.S. said Friday it will not seek a "grand bargain" in its denuclearization negotiations with North Korea, but will continue to engage with Pyongyang to completely denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, after the Biden administration wrapped up its North Korea policy review.

"South Korea and the U.S. will continue consultations over the North Korea policy on the occasion of their leaders' summit scheduled for this month and meetings of their foreign ministers," said an official at the foreign ministry.

The official said Seoul has received detailed explanations in advance from the U.S. over the outcome of the North Korea policy review.

President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Joe Biden will hold their first summit in Washington, May 21 to discuss the North Korea nuclear issue and ways to strengthen the Seoul-Washington alliance.

Talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear and missile programs have stalled since the second summit between former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in February 2019 ended without a result.

The two sides were far apart over the scope of Washington's sanctions relief in exchange for the North's denuclearization steps. Trump held three meetings with Kim, including their historic first summit in Singapore in June 2018. (Yonhap)