ROK to seek talks with DPRK to facilitate DPRK-U.S. dialogue: official

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The Republic of Korea's (ROK's) unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean relations said on Tuesday that it will seek talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to facilitate a dialogue between the DPRK and the U.S.

The ministry said in its 2019 work plan, submitted to the presidential Blue House, that it will push for inter-Korean talks, through which Seoul can help facilitate the dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington.

It noted that the ROK will intensify the virtuous cycle of improved inter-Korean relations leading to progress in the Korean Peninsula's denuclearization.

File photo of Kaesong Industrial Zone. /VCG Photo

The work plan came as the second DPRK-U.S. summit in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi ended without any deal.

Following the Hanoi summit, ROK President Moon Jae-in said the continued talks between the DPRK and the U.S. would be the most important, indicating his willingness to find a compromise between Pyongyang and Washington.

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said he will prepare for consultations with the U.S. to resume the two major inter-Korean cooperation projects – the jointly run industrial zone in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong and the tour to the DPRK's Mount Kumgang resort that have been suspended since 2016 and 2008 each.

ROK's civic groups send aid to the DPRK, September 30, 2011. /VCG Photo

The ministry said in the work plan that the ROK will address key issues, including improved inter-Korean relations and the peninsula's denuclearization, through close communication between the leaders of the two countries.

It will also seek various inter-Korean talks, including higher-level and working-level dialogues and talks in the inter-Korean liaison office, which opened in September last year in Kaesong for the round-the-clock communication.

(Cover: DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump (R) sit for a dinner at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi, February 27, 2019. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency