The special representative of the United States for the North Korean affairs on Wednesday, August 21, announced that Washington was ready to engage in working-level talks with Pyongyang for denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
US diplomat Stephen Biegun said, "We are prepared to engage (in a working-level dialogue with the DPRK) as soon as we hear from our counterparts in North Korea (DPRK)." The remark was made after Biegun's meeting with South Korean representative Lee Do-hoon for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs in Seoul commenced.
Describing the talks as an "important mission", Biegun said that he is "fully committed" to the task as it is an integral one following US President Donald Trump's meeting with leader Kim Jong-un in June.
Seoul representative Lee said that the discussions with Biegun were essential in reviving nuclear talks especially after the end of US-South Korea joint military exercises.
Meanwhile, North Korea had rebuffed South Korean President Moon Jae-in's vow to re-unify the Korean peninsula a "foolish" attempt, last week and said that inter-Korean dialogue would be "senseless."
"It was senseless to think that inter-Korean dialogue would resume once the military drills with the United States were over," a spokesperson for North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country said.
The US-North Korea nuclear talks gained momentum on June 30 following a meeting at the inter-Korean border village Panmunjom. Continuing the 2018 Singapore Summit dialogue's rhetoric, both the parties agreed to implement new peaceful relations, security guarantees for North Korea and the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
However, increasing display of military aggression by North Korea by numerous missile launches over the past month has raised doubts about the revival of nuclear talks between the two countries.
North Korean leader Kim reasoned security threats behind the increasing missile launches saying, "We cannot but develop nonstop super-powerful weapon systems to remove the potential and direct threats to the security of our country that exist in the south," he said.
North Korea has raised strong objections against South Korea importing weapons including the latest F-35 stealth fighters and conducting joint military drills with the US. Experts have claimed the launches could intensify in the coming months if nuclear negotiations do not restart.
The joint military exercises, according to North Korea violate Washington's promise following the Singapore Summit.
Diplomatic relations in the Korean peninsula have soared since Pyongyang demanded Seoul to abandon Washington and proceed to conduct joint economic projects that have strained due to the US-imposed sanctions on North Korea.
However, US President Donald Trump expressed that he was not worried as the North Korean leader has kept his pledge not to detonate nuclear bombs or test larger missiles that could deliver them to the US mainland.
