U.S. envoy optimistic about N. Korea disarmament

SEOUL, South Korea — The top U.S. envoy for North Korea on Monday expressed confidence about achieving North Korea’s nuclear disarmament, despite worries about the slow pace of nuclear diplomacy in recent weeks.

Meeting with his South Korean counterpart in Seoul, Stephen Biegun said that Washington and Seoul have a shared goal of ending seven decades of hostility on the Korean Peninsula.

“The primary requirement for us to get to that endpoint is to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea,” Biegun said. “So I am absolutely confident that this is within the reach, and I think our two presidents are singularly focused on this goal.”

South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy, Lee Do-hoon, said that the “denuclearization process is at a critical juncture and we need to meet up as often as possible.”

Since entering nuclear talks this year, North Korea has taken some measures, like halting nuclear and missile tests and dismantling its nuclear testing site. The U.S. suspended some military drills with South Ko- rea, but it’s reluctant to provide the North with big political or economic benefits unless it takes more serious disarmament steps. The North’s closure of its nuclear testing site was watched by foreign journalists, not examined by experts.

U.S. officials have said President Donald Trump will likely have his second meeting with Kim early next year.