Seoul, Washington to Hold Dialogue on Inter-Korean Relations

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have exchanged views today on the situation on the Korean peninsula and the recent high-level meetings in Panmunjom.

According to the South Korean Foreign Office, the two sides discussed by telephone the results of the cross-border talks, which ended with the agreement of an inter-Korean presidential summit next September in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Pompeo expressed his appreciation for Minister Kang's explanation and both agreed to cooperate closely in the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and the establishment of a lasting peace regime, the ministry said in a press release.

Seoul and Pyongyang have scheduled the September summit amidst growing speculation about a perceived stagnation in the negotiations.

South Korea supports Washington's position of maintaining all diplomatic and economic pressure on the DPRK until Pyongyang takes what they consider to be concrete steps towards complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.

The North Korean foreign ministry referred to the suspension of nuclear testing and ballistic missile launches, as well as the elimination of the nuclear test site, as effective measures aimed at achieving mutual trust.

On the other hand, the United States has reiterated that it is too early to talk about an official statement on the end of the Korean War (1950-53), one of the main requests of the DPRK to move forward on the agreed issues.

Analysts consider that as part of the agenda of Presidents Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un in their third face-to-face meeting, it is to address the permanent peace treaty which will replace the armistice signed in 1953 and which keeps the Korean peninsula technically at war.