ROK official urges DPRK, US to narrow difference

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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States would need the process of narrowing difference in initial negotiations for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, ROK's unification minister said Monday.

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told a forum in Seoul that the process of ironing out differences between Pyongyang and Washington will be necessary for the initial phase of negotiations for the denuclearization, according to local media reports.

Cho's comments came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang over the weekend.

ROK Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon (L) and DPRK's Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, shake hands in Pyongyang on July 5, 2018. /VCG Photo

Shortly after Pompeo left Pyongyang, the DPRK's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that while the DPRK asked for simultaneous moves on formally declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War and the denuclearization, the US side only insisted that the DPRK take steps for the comprehensive, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization (CVID).

Calling the US demand "unilateral" and "gangster-like," the DPRK Foreign Ministry said the US side never mentioned the issue of establishing a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.

Pompeo: Sanctions to remain until DPRK's ‘final’ denuclearization

After the historic summit in Singapore on June 12, top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump signed a joint statement to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula in return for security guarantees for the DPRK.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives at Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang on July 7, 2018. /VCG Photo

Pyongyang regards the signing of a formal agreement with Washington to end the Korean War, which ended with an armistice, as a key measure to remove the danger of war on the peninsula and normalize the DPRK-US relations. The peninsula remains technically at war with the armistice agreement.

The ROK minister said the leaders of the DPRK and the United States were moving in the same direction and showing clear willingness toward the denuclearization, anticipating a continued, condensed process in denuclearizing and building peace on the peninsula.

Cho said ROK will closely communicate and cooperate with the DPRK, the United States, all relevant parties and the international community to create a virtuous cycle of the improved relations between Seoul and Pyongyang, and between Pyongyang and Washington, with relevant parties advancing the denuclearization and peace settlement on the peninsula.

US President Donald Trump (R) walks with DPRK leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island in Singapore on June 12, 2018. /VCG Photo

Preparations for family reunion

A group of ROK workers visited the DPRK on Monday to prepare the reunion of war-separated Korean families scheduled for August, Seoul's unification ministry said.

The group, composed of 22 government officials, workers and those from the Red Cross and Hyundai Asan, crossed the military demarcation line (MDL), which divides the two Koreas, in the eastern region into the DPRK's scenic resort of Mount Kumgang at about 9 a.m. local time (0000 GMT).

They would repair the dialogue venue in Mount Kumgang in the DPRK's eastern coast. The Hyundai Asan had run facilities in the inter-Korean tourism project, which was launched in 1998 but had been suspended since a ROK female tourist was shot dead in July 2008 by a DPRK soldier after allegedly venturing into an off-limit area.

Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to hold the humanitarian event on August 20-26 as part of efforts to increase exchange and cooperation between the two sides.

The two Koreas held working-level talks on the railway, road and forestry in late June and earlier this month, agreeing to start joint study and investigation on the issues.

ROK's male and female basketball teams visited Pyongyang last week for friendly matches with DPRK players.

(Top photo: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (R) and DPRK official Kim Yong Chol (L) arrive for lunch at the Park Hwa Guest House in Pyongyang, July 7, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency