SEOUL, Aug 23 (NNN-YONHAP) – Nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States, met here today on humanitarian aid to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), urging Pyongyang to return to the dialogue table.
Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for the DPRK, who arrived in Seoul on Saturday, for a four-day trip, held a meeting with Noh Kyu-duk, South Korea’s special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs.
“We discussed possible humanitarian assistance to the DPRK,” Kim was quoted as saying, in a press conference, after the meeting.
Kim reaffirmed U.S. support for inter-Korean dialogue and engagement, saying that, the United States will continue to lend support to inter-Korean humanitarian cooperation projects.
Noh told reporters that, the two sides discussed ways to cooperate with the DPRK, in humanitarian areas, including healthcare, quarantine against infectious diseases, drinking water and hygiene, as well as, humanitarian support for the DPRK, through international organisations and non-governmental bodies.
The U.S. envoy renewed his call for the resumption of dialogue with the DPRK, saying, he continued to stand ready to meet with his DPRK counterparts “anywhere, at anytime.”
During his visit to Seoul in June, Kim said, the United States can meet with the DPRK “anywhere, anytime without preconditions.”
After the meeting with Noh, Kim reportedly met in Seoul with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Igor Morgulov, who arrived here on Saturday for a six-day visit.
Morgulov will hold a meeting with his South Korean counterpart tomorrow, to discuss bilateral cooperative ways for substantive progress, in the complete denuclearisation of and the permanent peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry.– NNN-YONHAP
