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U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun held talks with senior Seoul officials Wednesday, hoping to save stalled nuclear talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) after Pyongyang expressed "no intention" of sitting down with Washington, Yonhap reported.
Biegun's three-day visit to the Republic of Korea (ROK) is tocontinue "close allied coordination" on bilateral and global issues, and to "re-engage" with the DPRK on nuclear issues, said the U.S. State Department.
According to Yonhap, the U.S. diplomat top nuclear envoy held the "Strategic Dialogue" with First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young and paid a courtesy call on ROK Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.
"Thank you for hosting me and everything is complicated but your government is very collaborative in working out the details in getting here safely and we certainly want to be safe too," Biegun was quoted by Yonhap as saying.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun (R) talks with his ROK counterpart Lee Do-hoon during their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, ROK, July 8, 2020. /AP
The DPRK earlier rejected the U.S.'s request for negotiations and said it had "no intention to sit face to face with the United States," while urging the ROK to "stop meddling," just before Biegun's arrival in Seoul.
Tensions escalated on the Korean Peninsula after the DPRK demolished the inter-Korean joint liaison office building in the DPRK's border city of Kaesong last month in protest against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border by ROK civic group activists, mostly defectors from the DPRK. The DPRK has also cut off all communication lines with the ROK.
Trump and Kim met for the first time in 2018 in Singapore, raising hopes for a negotiated end to Pyongyang's nuclear programs. But their second summit in 2019 in Vietnam, and subsequent working-level negotiations fell apart.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, left, walks with his ROK counterpart Lee Do-hoon after their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, ROK, July 8, 2020. /AP
U.S. 'strongly supports' inter-Korean cooperation
"The United States strongly supports inter-Korean cooperation, and we believe this plays an important component in creating a more stable environment on the Korean Peninsula," Biegun told reporters in Seoul after talks with Lee Do-hoon, ROK's special representative for Korean Peninsula's peace and security affairs, according to Yonhap news agency.
"We look forward to fully supporting the government of (South) Korea (ROK) as it advances its goals with North Korea (DPRK) in inter-Korean cooperation," the U.S. nuclear envoy said.
Citing the vision U.S. President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un had through summits for the past two years, Biegun said his team will focus on "creating a more durable peace on the Korean Peninsula, transforming relations on the Korean Peninsula, elimination of nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and a brighter future for the Korean People."
"When Chairman Kim appoints a counterpart to me who is prepared and empowered to negotiate on these issues, they will find us ready at that very moment," said Biegun.
"I believe this is very much possible. President Trump has given us his full support to continue this effort," he noted.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun speaks to the media beside his ROK counterpart Lee Do-hoon after their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, ROK, July 8, 2020. /Reuters
U.S. has not sought meeting with DPRK
Biegun also poured cold water on reports Washington had sought a meeting with Pyongyang officials.
"I've seen some press comments that the North Koreans (DPRK nationals) are not prepared to meet with me on this visit," Biegun told reporters after talks with his ROK's counterpart.
"It's somewhat strange because we did not request a visit with North Koreans (DPRK)," he said, adding: "Let me absolutely be clear, we did not request a visit."
Rumors surrounding the possibility of another summit swirled last week after former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton reportedly said Trump might pursue another meeting with Kim in October if it would help his re-election chances.
But hours before Biegun arrived in Seoul on Tuesday, the DPRK again ruled out the possibility of resuming talks, saying Pyongyang had "no intention to sit face to face with the United States."
Kwon Jong Gun, director general of the Department of U.S. Affairs of the DPRK's Foreign Ministry, said Tuesday that the DPRK was unwilling to talk face to face with the United States, urging the ROK to stay away from meddling in Pyongyang's affairs.
Kwon's remarks reaffirmed the statement issued earlier by Choe Son Hui, first vice minister of foreign affairs of the DPRK, who said last weekend that the DPRK had no interest in holding another DPRK-U.S. summit, which was proposed last week by ROK President Moon, before the U.S. presidential election in November.
(With input from agencies)
(Cover: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun meets with ROK's First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young at the foreign ministry in Seoul, ROK, July 8, 2020. /AP)
