The United States is “very actively” trying to persuade North Korea to come back to negotiations, South Korea’s national security adviser said on Sunday, as a year-end North Korean deadline for US flexibility approaches, according to Reuters.
South Korea was taking North Korea’s deadline “very seriously”, the adviser, Chung Eui-yong, told reporters, at a time when efforts to improve inter-Korean relations have stalled.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in April gave the United States a year-end deadline to show more flexibility in their denuclearisation talks, and North Korean officials have warned the United States not to ignore that date.
The window of opportunity for progress in dialogue with the United States was getting smaller, a senior North Korean diplomat said on Friday, adding that Pyongyang expects reciprocal steps from Washington by the end of the year.
US-North Korea nuclear negotiations have been deadlocked with working-level talks in October ending fruitlessly.
South Korea has set up various contingency plans if the deadline passes without any positive outcome, Chung said, without elaborating.
“Only if talks between high-rank officials happen and lead to substantial progress, will the third North Korea-United States summit be possible,” Chung told a news conference to mark the half-way point of President Moon Jae-in’s five-year term.