MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st October, 2020) South Korea and the United States have managed to lay a "better foundation" for efforts pursuing to formally end the Korean War, South Korean Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon said on Wednesday following talks with US Deputy Secretary of State and Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun.
"Since we had very broad and meaningful discussions, I believe a better foundation that will continue to serve us better in the future has been created," Lee told journalists, when asked about whether they had agreed on the need to end the 1950-53 Korean War, as quoted by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
According to the South Korean envoy, he and Biegun had agreed that ending the war would be part of a bigger framework of efforts aimed at the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
"We had deep and broad discussions on very important issues such as those related to the current situation, how we can resume talks (with North Korea) and how we can advance the denuclearization process of the Korean Peninsula and establish a peace regime when the talks are resumed," Lee said.
The Korean War between South and North de facto lasted from 1950 to 1953, but de jure never ended in a peace agreement. Instead, the sides signed the Korean Armistice Agreement in July 1953 to establish the Demilitarized Zone that has also served as the border between the Korean peninsula's two nations.
In the years that followed, North Korea managed to acquire nuclear weapons, causing an international outcry and calls to commit to non-proliferation and disarmament.
The United States and North Korea had two denuclearization summits in 2018 and 2019, but they eventually faced a deadlock as Washington demanded that Pyongyang completely dismantle all of its nuclear facilities in order to be given sanctions relief, while North Korea insisted on that part of the restrictions be lifted before denuclearization begins.
