Seoul, Aug 23 : Nuclear envoys of South Korea and the US met here on Monday to discuss humanitarian aid to the North Korea, urging Pyongyang to return to the dialogue table.
Sung Kim, the US special representative for North Korea who arrived in Seoul on August 21 for a four-day trip, held a meeting with Noh Kyu-duk, South Korea’s special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, reports Xinhua news agency.
“We discussed possible humanitarian assistance to the North Korea,” Kim was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying in a press conference after the meeting.
Kim reaffirmed US support for inter-Korean dialogue and engagement, saying that Washington will continue to lend support to inter-Korean humanitarian cooperation projects.
Noh told reporters that the two sides discussed ways to cooperate with North Korea in humanitarian areas, including healthcare, quarantine against infectious diseases, drinking water and hygiene, as well as the humanitarian support for Pyongyang through international organisations and non-governmental bodies.
The US envoy renewed his call for the resumption of dialogue with North Korea, saying he continued to stand ready to meet with his Pyongyang counterparts “anywhere, at any time”.
During his visit to Seoul in June, Kim said the US can meet with North Korea “anywhere, anytime without preconditions”.
After the meeting with Noh, Kim reportedly met in Seoul with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov who arrived here also on August 21 for a six-day trip.
Morgulov will hold a meeting with his South Korean counterpart on Tuesday to discuss bilateral cooperative ways for substantive progress in the complete denuclearisation of and the permanent peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry. (IANS)