SEOUL-- The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States have discussed "creative and various" measures to reengage with North Korea during bilateral talks in New York, the foreign ministry said.

The talks between Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took place on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday (local time), shortly after the two held trilateral talks with their Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi.

"The secretary and minister shared the assessments on the recent situation on the Korean Peninsula and the understanding on the urgent need for dialogue for substantive progress on the Korean Peninsula peace process," the ministry said in a press release.

"They had in-depth discussions on creative and various measures to engage with North Korea," it said.

Seoul and Washington have been exploring ways to resume talks with Pyongyang through humanitarian cooperation in such areas as public health, antivirus quarantines, sanitation and clean water.

Sung Kim, the U.S. point man for North Korea, said after talks with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Tokyo last week that Washington is prepared to work with the North to address its humanitarian concerns "regardless of progress on denuclearization."

But the question remains on whether the North would respond to such offers for talks, as it has been ratcheting up tensions with its recent test-firings of short-range ballistic missiles and a new type of a long-range cruise missile.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog said earlier this week that the North's nuclear program is going "full steam ahead," citing recent signs of the reactivation of its plutonium-producing nuclear reactor and uranium enrichment facility inside the Yongbyon nuclear complex.

Aside from the North Korea issue, Chung and Blinken reaffirmed that the firm South Korea-U.S. alliance is the linchpin of peace, stability and prosperity in Northeast Asia, the Indo-Pacific and the world.

In that vein, they agreed to continue working together to strengthen two-way cooperation in climate change, the fight against COVID-19 and other global issues, the ministry said.

Source: Yonhap News Agency