South Korea urges North, US to resume talks

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA - South Korea on Friday urged the U.S. and North Korea to resume dialogue on denuclearization of Korean peninsula, local media reported.

“For the two sides to meet and have productive discussions, obviously it is going to require flexibility to come to an agreement,” Yonhap news agency quoted South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha as saying at a news conference on Friday.

The Korean denuclearization process is stuck since breakdown of Washington-Pyongyang talks last February when U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un left their second summit without reaching any deal.

Praising relations between Kim and Trump, Pyongyang has sought replacement of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to make any headway on the proposed denuclearization.

According to Yonhap, Kang urged the two sides to “come to an agreement that leads us to complete denuclearization as well as better relations between the U.S. and North Korea”.

“[But] there has to be a comprehensive picture,” she said.

Referring to Pyongyang’s approach in the ongoing logjam on nuclear talks, Kang said that Pyongyang appears to be still “taking stock and calculating next moves”.

North Korea is facing severe international sanctions since 2006 when it first tested its nuclear arsenal.