SEOUL, May 24 (Xinhua) : South Korea is considering contacting the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) for the resumption of high-level inter-Korean talks, which has been suspended over the South Korea-U.S. war games, Yonhap news agency reported Thursday citing the presidential Blue House of South Korea. An unidentified Blue House official told local reporters that though the South Korean side had yet to offer another date for the inter-Korean dialogue, it can contact the DPRK side once again for the cancelled senior-level talks.
Seoul and Pyongyang had agreed to hold high-level talks last week, but the DPRK made a pre-dawn cancellation citing the South Korea-U.S. air combat exercises codenamed Max Thunder. The air drills mobilized about 100 aircrafts, including eight U.S. F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets. The radar-evading fighter is used to secretly attack an enemy target. South Korea has claimed the joint annual drills were defensive in nature, while the DPRK called it a dress rehearsal for northward invasion.
During the summit meeting in Washington with U.S. President Donald Trump, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he expected the resumption of the inter-Korean talks after the Max Thunder ends on May 25. Regarding the phone conversations between Moon and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un through the hotline of direct dialogue, the Blue House official said nothing has been decided yet about when to have the phone conversation.
The hotline between Moon and Kim was installed days before the April 27 summit between the two leaders at the border village of Panmunjom. Moon and Kim agreed to frankly talk about issues through the hotline when necessary, but the first hotline contact had yet to happen.
Chinese FM says China firmly supports Trump-Kim meeting : WASHINGTON, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Wednesday that China firmly supports the planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and the top leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong Un.
Direct contact and dialogue between top leaders of the two nations are key to solving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, Wang said at a press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after their meeting. He made a stopover in Washington D.C. on his way back from Argentina on Wednesday.
China expects the meeting to be held as scheduled and achieve success, he said. China believes that President Trump and Chairman Kim are capable and have the wisdom to make the right decision to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula and bring good news to the world, Wang said. China is firmly committed to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and this stance will not change, Wang said.
Meanwhile, it is also necessary, while promoting denuclearization, to address the DPRK’s reasonable security concerns at an appropriate time, he noted. He also urged to establish a long-term and effective peace mechanism on the Korean Peninsula along with the realization of denuclearization.
China remains steadfast in fulfilling its due international obligations and will continue to fully and strictly implement the UN Security Council’s resolutions on the DPRK, and will continue to work to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, Wang said. If the United States wants to solve the problem, now is the time, he said, adding that if America wants peace and wants to make history, now is the time.
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