US, NKorea need to compromise Moon —

SEOUL: President Moon Jae-in has conceded there was a “blockage” in talks between the United States and North Korea, saying both sides needed to compromise to make progress on the issue of denuclearization.

Moon said North Korea is “willing to denuclearize” while the US is prepared to end hostile relations, as he tried to strike an upbeat tone ahead of his third meeting with Kim Jong Un next week.

The summit will be the third between the leaders of North and South Korea this year and comes as talks between Washington and Pyongyang over dismantling the North’s nuclear arsenal have stalled.

“North Korea is willing to denuclearize and therefore willing to discard existing nuclear weapons... and the US is willing to end hostile relations with the North and provide security guarantees,” Moon said.

“But there is a blockage as both sides are demanding each other to act first and I think they will be able to find a point of compromise.”

Moon, who helped broker the June summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump and has called for a followup meeting between the two sides, added South Korea would help mediate contacts between Washington and Pyongyang to “speed up the denuclearization process”.

Trump and Kim Jong Un pledged to denuclearize the Korean peninsula at their historic Singapore meeting.

However, no details were agreed, and Washington and Pyongyang have sparred since over what that means and how it will be achieved. Last month, Trump abruptly canceled a planned visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang.

The new US envoy for the North, Stephen Biegun, said in August Kim had promised “final, fully verified denuclearization” at the Singapore summit.

Speaking on the sidelines of the forum, he called for “openness” from the North about their weapons programme and added a second Trump- Kim summit should deliver “concrete” results.

South Korean national security advisor Chung Eui-yong said Thursday Moon and Kim will discuss “more in-depth and detailed ways to achieve denuclearisation”.

The two Koreas will be holding a closed working-level meeting on Friday to discuss the logistics of next week’s summit, an official at the South’s presidential office said.