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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong have discussed, through a phone conversation, efforts to engage with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), including the prospect of humanitarian aid, their offices said on Friday.
Their phone talks came after last week's
restoration of inter-Korean communication channels
fueled hopes for the resumption of inter-Korean relations.
"The minister and secretary agreed that the South and the U.S. would continue to make coordinated diplomatic efforts for substantive progress toward the goal of the complete denuclearization and establishment of permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula," the South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a press release.
"Especially, the two countries held concrete consultations on ways for cooperation with the DPRK, including humanitarian cooperation, and agreed to continue efforts for engagement with it," it added.
The U.S. State Department said Blinken reiterated U.S. support for inter-Korean reconciliation.
In a tweet, Blinken said that during the "good" conversation with Chung, he reaffirmed U.S. support for inter-Korean dialogue and engagement, as well as the importance of the South Korea-U.S. alliance for the complete denuclearization and creation of lasting peace on the peninsula.
Earlier on Sunday, the
DPRK warned
that a planned South Korea-U.S. military exercise would cast a cloud over inter-Korean relations.
Pyongyang wants international sanctions banning its metal exports and imports of refined fuel and other necessities lifted so as to restart denuclearization talks with the United States, Reuters reported citing South Korean lawmakers.
About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War, which ended with an armistice agreement rather than a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula in a technical state of war.
