U.S. ready to resume negotiation

U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, left, and his South Korean counterpart, Lee Do-hoon, have a doorstep briefing at the Foreign Ministry in central Seoul on Wednesday after talks. [NEWS1]

The United States is ready to resume long-stalled talks with North Korea, Washington’s top nuclear envoy said Wednesday, amid growing hopes that the two countries would restart nuclear talks after the conclusion this week of a South Korea-U.S. military exercise.

Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun made the remarks a day after the allies wrapped up the exercise that the communist regime berated as a rehearsal for invasion. He arrived in South Korea from Japan on Tuesday for a three-day visit.

“We are prepared to engage as soon as we hear from our counterparts in North Korea,” he said after a meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Do-hoon.

He stressed that “as agreed by” North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, President Donald Trump gave his team the assignment to restart the talks with the North following the leaders’ impromptu meeting at the inter-Korean border on June 30.

“I am fully committed to this important mission. We will get this done,” Biegun said.

During the allied exercise, the North had shunned negotiations with the United States, fired a fusillade of short-range projectiles into the East Sea and sharpened rhetoric against Seoul.

But Trump has tweeted that in a recent letter to him, the North Korean leader expressed his desire to relaunch the talks with the United States as soon as the allied exercise ends.

Biegun also stressed that he will “remain focused” on the talks with the North, rejecting earlier media reports on his possible ambassadorship in Russia.

On Tuesday, U.S. media outlets reported that Trump is expected to pick Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan as Washington’s new top envoy in Russia.

“I wanted to dispel any rumors that I will be leaving this portfolio to take up an ambassadorship abroad,” Biegun said.

“I will not be taking up a diplomatic posting in the Russia federation, and I will remain focused on making progress on North Korea,” he added.

Seoul’s chief nuclear negotiator Lee pointed out that Biegun’s visit here was “timely” and came at a “critical” point of joint efforts for the resumption of negotiations with Pyongyang.

“The current dialogue phase has not come just by accident. This has been made based on the determination and will of the leaders of the South, North and the U.S.,” Lee told reporters.

“The South and the United States hope that through close consultations and cooperation, we can continue such a turning point for dialogue,” he added.

With the talks with Lee, Biegun kicked off his official schedule for a series of meetings with senior Seoul officials, including Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul.

Washington and Pyongyang were expected to resume the working-level talks last month based on an agreement between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their impromptu talks at the inter-Korean border on June 30.

But the talks have not been held amid tensions over the combined military exercise between Seoul and Washington.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed hope Tuesday that the North will return to negotiations to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.

“We hope Chairman Kim will come to the table and get a better outcome. It will be better for the North Korean people. It will be better for the world,” he said in an interview with CBS.

Biegun’s visit to Seoul has spawned speculation that during his stay here, he could meet North Koreans at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom and resume much-awaited nuclear negotiations.

On Thursday, Biegun reportedly plans to meet Kim Hyun-chong, a deputy director of the National Security Office, at the presidential office Blue House.

Yonhap