South Korea: North is willing to talk with U. S.

North Korea is willing to hold talks with the United States on a range of issues including Pyongyang’s nuclear development program, a ranking North Korean official told South Korean President Moon Jae- in.

Kim Yong Chol, a senior official of the North’s ruling Worker’s Party in charge of inter- Korean relations, made the remarks at a meeting Sunday with Moon in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Moon’s presidential office announced the overture in a statement picked up by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

Kim, the former North Korean spy chief, was sitting just a few feet away from Ivanka Trump, President Trump’s daughter, at the closing ceremony Sunday, but the two did not interact. Ivanka Trump briefed Moonon the latest sanctions and delivered a message from her father.

The North Korean attaché is suspected by Seoul of having masterminded two attacks in 2010 that killed 50 South Koreans.

Moon spokesman Kim Eui- kyeom said the president urged that U. S.North Korea talks “be held at an early date ... for an improvement in the South- North Korea relationship and the fundamental resolution of Korean Peninsula issues.”

“The North Korean delegation, too, agreed that North Korea- U. S. relations must develop along with the South- North Korea relationship,” Kim Eui- kyeom said.

Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at the Washingtonbased Center for the National Interest, expressed skepticism at the North’s outreach. “Will North Korea talk nukes or is ( leader) Kim JongUn just looking to buy more time?” Kazianis told USA TODAY.

A sincere offer of talks would provide a step toward diplomacy after years of missile and nuclear tests and threats of war from Pyongyang and Washington. Moon has promised to engage North Korea to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.