SEOUL-- President Moon Jae-in asked the Joe Biden administration to restart talks with North Korea during a meeting with Washington's special envoy on Pyongyang on Tuesday.
Speaking to Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, at Cheong Wa Dae, Moon said it is "appropriate" for the Biden government to seek to achieve the complete denuclearization of Korea in a "gradual" way via dialogue and diplomacy, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee.
Moon then requested that the U.S. resume dialogue with North Korea and continue efforts for progress in negotiations in close coordination with South Korea, she added.
The president, in particular, emphasized the need for cooperation between the allies for the "virtuous cycle" of an improvement in inter-Korean relations and headway in Washington-Pyongyang dialogue.
Kim replied that he would do his best for the resumption of U.S.-North Korea talks, Park said.
Moon also reaffirmed his commitment to playing every possible role during the remainder of his tenure to help put inter-Korean ties and Pyongyang-Washington relations "on a certain track."
Kim, meanwhile, had a separate meeting with Suh Hoon, director of national security at Cheong Wa Dae. The two had "in-depth" discussions on specific and practical ways for restarting dialogue with North Korea, Park said.
Kim is on his first visit here since being appointed as the Biden administration's point man on Pyongyang. He agreed that the allies are facing an "important time" for efforts to diplomatically engage Pyongyang again.
President Biden announced his pick of the Korean American career diplomat right after holding a summit with Moon at the White House in late May.
The move was widely viewed as reflecting the Biden administration's hope for dialogue with North Korea.
Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un publicly called on his regime to gear up for "both dialogue and confrontation" with the U.S. in consideration of the "policy tendency" of its new government.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan described Kim's message as an "interesting signal." But Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North Korean leader and senior official of the communist regime, soon warned that U.S. officials would be plunged into "greater disappointment" if they have "wrong" expectations of dialogue.
Source: Yonhap News Agency