North Korea and the US will hold working-level nuclear talks on Saturday, Pyongyang said, signaling the resumption of a dialogue process that has been effectively stalled since the collapse of a summit in February.
The two sides agreed to have “preliminary contact” on Friday and hold working-level negotiations the following day, North Korean Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choe Son-hui said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.
“It is my expectation that the working-level negotiations would accelerate the positive development of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea]-US relations,” she added, without disclosing the talks’ venue.
North Korean officials were “ready” to enter the discussions, she said.
There was no immediate confirmation from the US side.
Negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington have been gridlocked since a second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump in February ended without a deal.
The two agreed to restart working-level dialogue during an impromptu meeting at the Demilitarized Zone, but the North’s anger at a US refusal to cancel joint military deals with South Korea placed the process on hold.
Relations thawed last month after Trump fired his hawkish national security adviser John Bolton, who Pyongyang had repeatedly denounced as a warmonger.
North Korea’s chief negotiator also responded positively to Trump’s suggestion that the two sides try a “new method” of approaching their discussions.
Trump had criticized Bolton’s suggestion of the “Libyan model” for North Korea, a reference to a denuclearization deal with the African nation’s former leader Muammar Qaddafi — who was killed after being deposed in 2011.
Pyongyang had bristled at that comment, which Trump said had “set us back very badly.”
Despite the gridlock, Pyongyang has continued to praise Trump, calling him “bold” and “wise.”
South Korea’s presidential Blue House welcomed the resumption of dialogue between the North and the US.
“We hope to see the realization of practical steps towards permanent peace regime and complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through the upcoming talks,” spokeswoman Ko Min-jung said.
The announcement on the new talks could be an “indication” that the two sides have narrowed their differences behind the scenes, said Koh Yu-hwan, professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul.
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