Trump’s North Korea envoy urges Kim Jong Un to resume stalled denuclearisation talks

US Deputy Secretary of State has appealed to the North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un to return to the negotiation table for denuclearisation talks as he expressed disappointment over stalled Pyongyang and Washington dialogues. Stephen Biegun, who is in Seoul this week to meet officials, said at a state conference that the US would like to encourage the North Korean leader to spearhead the talks to denuclearise Pyongyang, citing the ‘lack of progress’.

The Deputy US Secretary of State and Special Rep. for North Korea travelled to Seoul on December 9 to strengthen US-Korean Republic cooperation and to reaffirm the bilateral alliance of the two countries. US Nuclear Envoy met with Seoul’s Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-Kun, and in his address, called on neighbouring Pyongyang for "complete recasting of relations". 

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Ahead of his meeting with Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the US deputy secretary of state urged North Korea to draft diplomatic a plan for the incoming Biden administration in January 2021.

Washington's top nuclear envoy stressed that the dialogue was the "best" and "only" course to North Korean nuclear talks and unfinished negotiations that have suffered setbacks, disappointments, and missed opportunities. Biegun delivered remarks at the local think tank Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul during his four-day trip, which was streamed live by Seoul’s state-run press.

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'Linchpin of peace'

Referring to next month's key session of the North's ruling Workers' Party, Biegun said that he was looking forward to seamless cooperation towards peacemaking on the Korean Peninsula. "I'm sure North Korea knows this as well," the US Deputy Secretary of State said in his live-streamed address, adding that the US has been the rock-solid linchpin of peace security in Northeast Asia.

When questioned by the reporters about Washington's rejection of Pyongyang's offer to dismantle the Yongbyon nuclear complex during their summit in Hanoi early last year, Biegun reportedly said that Yongbyon is of great interest to the US and does not represent the entirety of the North Korean nuclear program. He added that there were "key lessons" from the no-deal summit in Hanoi.

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