MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th December, 2019) South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun has held talks on denuclearization efforts, the South Korean presidential administration said in a written briefing on Monday.
Biegun is currently on a visit to South Korea and Japan where he is holding several meetings on the issue of North Korea with his counterparts amid growing nuclear tensions in the region.
"President Moon Jae-in has commended the efforts on achieving denuclearization and sustainable peace on the Korean peninsula, made by Special Representative Biegun, and asked him to pursue his efforts to attain peace progress on the peninsula," the presidential administration said, adding that the US envoy had, in turn, promised to do his utmost to complete this historic mission.
Since he arrived in Seoul on Sunday, Biegun has held talks with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Do-hoon, National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong, Unification Minister Kim Yeon Chul and First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Se-young.
After the US-North Korea summit's failure in Vietnam in February, Pyongyang officially committed itself to ending nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles. This pledge did not, however, extend to engine tests, or launches of satellites or medium- and short-range ballistic missiles.
In October, Pyongyang gave the United States until the end of the year to come up with a mutually acceptable deal to advance the denuclearization process. The North Korean Foreign Ministry said that the dialogue on denuclearization promoted by Washington was no more than a "foolish trick." In December, North Korea has so far conducted two missile tests to collect new data and test the latest technologies. The US is set to continue the denuclearization talks despite relatively small progress.
