By Lee Min-hyung
South Korea held high-level negotiations with the United States and Japan, Monday, discussing a series of pending issues regarding North Korea ahead of the inter-Korean summit scheduled for Friday, the foreign ministry said.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Kang Kyung-wha had a closed-door meeting with Susan Thornton, the nominee for U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Thornton is in charge of working-level talks for the upcoming summit between Washington and Pyongyang.
Both sides are expected to have shared their views on the North's recent decision to stop its nuclear and missile tests and close a nuclear test site. They are likely to have exchanged ideas on ways to enhance the bilateral alliance and build lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Lee Do-hoon, head of the ministry's inter-Korean peace negotiation division, also held a meeting with Kanasugi Kenji, director-general of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Asian and Oceanian bureau.
"Both of them reached a consensus to extend the ongoing inter-Korean peace momentum, and tighten their alliance to achieve denuclearization on the peninsula," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The meetings came four days before the historic inter-Korean summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
"We hope to continue negotiating the diplomatic agenda with Japan at a time when Washington and Pyongyang await their first-ever summit. This will be the first big leap-forward to denuclearize the regime," Lee said.
"Seoul and Tokyo are maintaining a close partnership, as Kanasugi visited Seoul right after the end of the Washington-Tokyo summit last week."
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| Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha |
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Kang Kyung-wha had a closed-door meeting with Susan Thornton, the nominee for U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Thornton is in charge of working-level talks for the upcoming summit between Washington and Pyongyang.
Both sides are expected to have shared their views on the North's recent decision to stop its nuclear and missile tests and close a nuclear test site. They are likely to have exchanged ideas on ways to enhance the bilateral alliance and build lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Lee Do-hoon, head of the ministry's inter-Korean peace negotiation division, also held a meeting with Kanasugi Kenji, director-general of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Asian and Oceanian bureau.
"Both of them reached a consensus to extend the ongoing inter-Korean peace momentum, and tighten their alliance to achieve denuclearization on the peninsula," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
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The meetings came four days before the historic inter-Korean summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
"We hope to continue negotiating the diplomatic agenda with Japan at a time when Washington and Pyongyang await their first-ever summit. This will be the first big leap-forward to denuclearize the regime," Lee said.
"Seoul and Tokyo are maintaining a close partnership, as Kanasugi visited Seoul right after the end of the Washington-Tokyo summit last week."
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