South Korea calls for resumption of US-North Korea nuclear talks

South Korea’s foreign minister said on Monday that the US and North Korea should resume their nuclear talks and added that the government of South Korea is willing to engage and facilitate negotiations.

Speaking at a UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament, Kang Kyung-wha said that the main goal is the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

“A speedy resumption of the US-DPRK negotiations is critical so that all stakeholders maintain and build upon the hard-won momentum for dialogue. We stand ready to engage with the North in a way that facilitates and accelerates the US-DPRK dialogue,” Kang told the Geneva forum.

“And we will do so adhering faithfully to the international sanctions regime on the DPRK,” Kang added.

Negotiations came to a halt last year after North Korea pressed on with its programme to enhance its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, in breach of the UN sanctions, said Reuters.

North Korea tried to justify its actions by arguing that because the United States had ignored the year-end deadline set by Pyongyang for the talks.

Some observers believed that Washington had few cards left to realistically sanction N.Korea any further beyond the “maximum pressure” embargo already in place. Meanwhile, South Korea was staunchly opposed to military strikes, not least because it would risk a harsh response from any escalation in the conflict.

That was particularly true given that its capital was well within the range of the North's retaliatory strike capability.

A North Korean propaganda outlet slammed South Korea's foreign minister on Monday for recently discussing Korean peace and called it a "spineless act" of trying to win foreign approval for issues between the two Koreas.