Politics
10:40, 04-Jun-2018
ROK, US top diplomats hold phone talks over Trump-Kim summit
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The Republic of Korea's (ROK) Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her US counterpart Mike Pompeo held phone talks Monday over the upcoming summit between US President Donald Trump and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un, Yonhap reported citing the ROK foreign ministry.
Kang talked over the phone with Pompeo for about 15 minutes in the morning, according to the ministry. The two top diplomats discussed recent progress in preparations for the Trump-Kim summit planned to take place on June 12 in Singapore, and the result of Trump's meeting with DPRK official Kim Yong Chol in Washington.
The two sides agreed to work together for the denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Meanwhile, an unnamed official of the presidential Blue House of the ROK told local reporters that Seoul and Washington have been closely communicating over the DPRK-US summit.
Asked about a three-way summit in Singapore among the ROK, the DPRK and the US after the first-ever DPRK-US summit on June 12, the Blue House official said the ROK had yet to launch preparations for the three-party summit.
A TV newscast featuring images of US President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un at Seoul Station in Seoul, May 25, 2018. /VCG Photo
A TV newscast featuring images of US President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un at Seoul Station in Seoul, May 25, 2018. /VCG Photo
ROK President Moon Jae-in said recently that he had anticipation for the three-way summit to be held to declare an official end to the 1950-53 Korean War. The Korean Peninsula remains technically at war as the Korean War ended with an armistice.
After the April 27 inter-Korean summit, Moon and Kim agreed to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and turn the current armistice agreement to a peace treaty by the end of this year.
The back-on-track summit between Pyongyang and Washington followed recent twists and turns and a whirlwind of diplomacy.
Trump abruptly canceled his meeting with the DPRK leader in May, but the DPRK said the country was ready to sit down with the US any time in any manner.
Trump reversed course soon after, saying both sides wanted the meeting to happen and it could still go ahead after productive talks.
Multitrack talks between officials from the DPRK and the US have been held last week in New York, the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom and Singapore.