MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st July, 2023) South Korean and top US nuclear envoys met in Japan on Friday and expressed concern over North Korea's rejection of dialogue on denuclearization, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing the South Korean Foreign Ministry.
In addition, South Korea's special envoy for peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, Kim Gunn, along with US special envoy for North Korea Sung Kim, condemned North Korea's nuclear and missile development, the ministry said.
"The two sides voiced deep concerns over North Korea's continuous rejection of proposals for dialogue from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, as well as the international community, and throwing the blame on others for the escalation of tensions, and called on the North to swiftly return to denuclearization talks," Kim Gunn was quoted as saying by Yonhap.
The two envoys reportedly agreed to continue to cooperate, as well as communicate with China on North Korea.
On Tuesday, the USS Kentucky, an Ohio-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine, made port in Busan in southeastern South Korea. On the same day, the meeting of the two countries' Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) meeting was held, where South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and his US counterpart Joe Biden reaffirmed their commitment to deter North Korea.
On Thursday, North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam criticized the deployment of a US nuclear ballistic missile submarine in South Korea, saying Pyongyang could potentially consider it a sufficient basis for the use of nuclear arms for self-defense.