Seoul, Dec 16 (IANS) South Korea and the United States held talks on Tuesday to coordinate their North Korea policy, officials said, an effort that appears clouded by discord between relevant ministries in Seoul.
The consultative meeting marked the first such talks between the allies on North Korea issues since the liberal Lee Jae Myung government took office in June, as Seoul seeks to improve stalled inter-Korean ties and help resume dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang despite the North's repeated rejection of overtures.
Tuesday's meeting was led by Jeong Yeon-doo, vice minister for diplomatic strategy and intelligence at the foreign ministry and acting US Ambassador to South Korea Kevin Kim.
The foreign ministry said earlier the meeting will be a broad discussion on North Korea-related policy, including ways to reengage with the reclusive state. The ministry said it aims to make the dialogue channel run on a regular basis.
The meeting, however, comes at a time when the unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, has raised objections to the dialogue led by the foreign ministry and the US, arguing that it could undermine the prospects for restoring ties with Pyongyang.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young and several other Cabinet members have reportedly expressed concern that the dialogue channel could go down the same path as the bilateral "working group" run by Seoul and Washington during the Moon Jae-in government from 2018-21.
The working group was launched in November 2018 to enable close and timely coordination between the allies on North Korea–related issues, ranging from denuclearisation and sanctions to inter-Korean cooperation. The Moon government had also invested heavily in rapprochement with Pyongyang and in facilitating nuclear talks between the North and the US.
But the working group increasingly came to be seen as a monitoring mechanism that hindered Seoul's peace efforts toward the North, as discussions prioritised compliance with international sanctions against Pyongyang, Yonhap news agency reported.
Considering its role in inter-Korean issues, the unification ministry has taken part in key bilateral consultations with the US on North Korea.
On Monday, the unification ministry said it will not attend Tuesday's meeting and will have its own talks with the US on North Korea policy when necessary.
The foreign ministry said the talks also serve as a follow-up to the agreements outlined in a joint summit fact sheet, in which the two countries committed to close consultations on North Korea issues.
--IANS
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