S. Korea, US aligned on end goal on N. Korea: FM Kang

Published : Mar 30, 2019 - 18:46 Updated : Mar 31, 2019 - 10:11

South Korea and the United States are completely aligned on their end goal when it comes to their diplomatic efforts with North Korea, Seoul's top diplomat said Friday after talks with her American counterpart.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha arrived in Washington earlier in the day for her first meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo since the no-deal summit last month between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

At a press conference after the talks, Kang said the two sides discussed the current situation with North Korea and pending matters between the allies, including the issue of cost-sharing for US troops in South Korea and Seoul's request to extend a waiver for oil imports from Iran.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha. Yonhap

"Through today's discussions we were able to reaffirm that South Korea and the US are completely aligned on our end goal when it comes to our policy toward North Korea," the minister said.

"The most important thing at this stage, following the North-US summit in Hanoi, is to resume negotiations between North Korea and the US," she added.

The second summit between Trump and Kim broke down due to disagreements over US demands for North Korea's complete denuclearization and North Korean demands for significant sanctions relief from the US.

At the first summit in Singapore in June, the two leaders agreed to "work toward" complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees from the US.

The diplomats' meeting also came less than a day after the two countries announced plans for a summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Trump on April 11 in Washington.

Moon has brokered the diplomatic efforts between Washington and Pyongyang since last year and held three summits of his own with Kim.

"We agreed that the upcoming summit (between Moon and Trump) will allow deep conversations between the leaders on strengthening the alliance and our coordination on the North Korean nuclear issue," Kang said. "We discussed many things regarding preparations (for the summit)."

Kang said she is aware that there are concerns about a growing rift in the alliance caused by South Korea's push to resume inter-Korean economic projects and US insistence on maintaining sanctions on the North.

"South Korea and the US have deep and frank discussions on all matters related to the North Korean nuclear issue," she said.

At the start of the meeting, which was open to the press, Pompeo did not respond to a reporter asking whether he was concerned about the alleged restoration of North Korea's long-range rocket launch facility in Dongchang-ri.

The site was partially dismantled in the wake of the Singapore summit and then reportedly rebuilt starting shortly before the Feb.27-28 summit in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The movements led to speculation that the regime may be preparing for another missile launch.