North Korea, US agree to resume nuke talks on Oct 5
SEOUL: North Korea and the United States (US) agreed to resume their working-level nuclear talks this week, Pyongyang’s state media reported Tuesday, citing a statement from a senior diplomat.
First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said that Washington and Pyongyang agreed to hold “preliminary contact on Oct 4 and hold working-level negotiations on Oct 5,” according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as quoted by Yanhap news agency.
Choe did not mention the venue for the upcoming talks.
“The delegates of the DPRK (North Korea) side are ready to enter into the North Korea-US working-level negotiations,” Choe said in a statement.
“It is my expectation that the working-level negotiations would accelerate the positive development of the North Korea-US relations,” she added.
Pyongyang recently expressed its intent to return to dialogue after a period of tensions caused by its angry reactions to the combined military exercise between Washington and Seoul in August.
Seoul welcomed the proposed resumption of dialogue between the two countries.
“(South Korea) welcomes the agreement between North Korea and the US to hold working-level negotiations on (Oct) 5,” Ko Min Jung, spokeswoman for the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae (Blue House), said in a short text message sent to reporters.
