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S. Korea, U.S. hold talks on DPRK nuclear program

Xinhua, January 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

Senior diplomats of South Korea and the United States on Wednesday held talks about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear program and issues on the Korean Peninsula, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

Wendy Sherman, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, arrived in Seoul Tuesday evening and met South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong Wednesday morning to exchange views on DPRK issues.

The meeting came amid concerns over disparity between Seoul and Washington over DPRK policies.

South Korea has offered to hold talks with the DPRK to improve inter-Korean ties, but the U.S. imposed new sanctions against Pyongyang over the alleged hacking of Sony Pictures over a film featuring a plot to assassinate top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.

During the meeting, Sherman said there is no gap between South Korea and the United States over DPRK policies, noting that both sides are committed to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and achieving reunification through democratic procedures, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The U.S. diplomat said the two countries are the closest in terms of bilateral relations in security, politics and economy, adding that Seoul and Washington maintain a strong alliance and partnership.

It was the first senior-level meeting in 2015 between the two allies to discuss DPRK issues. Sherman came here as the second leg of her tour of three Asian nations, including China and Japan.

Hwang Joon-kook, South Korea's top envoy for the six-party talks, met with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts in Tokyo Wednesday to discuss how to resume the long-stalled dialogue aimed at denuclearizing the peninsula.

The aid-for-disarmament talks, which involve South Korea, DPRK, China, the United States, Russia and Japan, was initiated in Beijing in August 2003 but has been halted since December 2008.

South Korea's foreign ministry said in its 2015 annual report to President Park Geun-hye that it will push "Korean formula," or a diplomatic strategy meaning Seoul will resume talks and provide economic aid to Pyongyang if the DPRK shows sincerity toward complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.

The DPRK proposed on Jan. 10 to temporarily suspend annual war games between Seoul and Washington in 2015 in return for its suspension of nuclear tests, an overture flatly rejected by the two countries. Endi