Foreign minister says Seoul, Washington want to keep momentum of US-North Korea dialogue

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Sunday that Seoul and Washington are on the same page in wanting to maintain the momentum of United States-North Korea talks.

Kang returned home after holding talks with her US counterpart Mike Pompeo in Washington D.C. It was their first meeting since the no-deal summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi last month.

“South Korea and the US share the same thoughts that maintaining the momentum of the US-North Korea talks is the most important thing,” Kang told reporters at Incheon International Airport. “We also talked about continuing to watch North Korea‘s moves.”

The top diplomat said she also exchanged information with Pompeo on the preparations for the South Korea-U.S. summit slated for April 11.

Asked whether the two diplomats touched on the issue of a “snapback” clause reinstating sanctions if violations are found, or on a “good enough deal” pursued by South Korea’s presidential office, Kang said they just discussed various situations that could happen. North Korea‘s Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui recently claimed that Trump was “flexible” about easing sanctions on the condition that they would be snapped back into place if the North resumes nuclear activity. (Yonhap)