North Korea ‘open’ to restart nuclear talks with US

PYONGYANG: North Korea is willing to restart denuclearisation talks with the United States later this month, the country’s vice foreign minister has said.

Choe Son-hui said they were willing to resume “comprehensive” discussions in a setting agreed by both sides. Her statement came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced hopes for talks to resume.

Hours after Son-hui spoke, two short-range projectiles were reportedly launched from North Korea. It’s the latest in a series of tests in recent months.

At their first meeting, last year, US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un agreed to the “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean peninsula - but without determining what that meant or how to achieve it.

Discussions on the finer details broke down in February, during their second summit in Hanoi.

Son-hui said on Monday that North Korea was willing to sit “face-to-face” again at an agreed time and place around late September. In the statement, she urged Washington to come with a fresh approach in order to keep hopes for a deal alive. “I want to believe that the US side would come out with an alternative based on a calculation method that serves both sides’ interests and is acceptable to us,” she said, according to reports. The last summit broke down after a rift emerged over the lifting of sanctions.

In June, Trump and Kim spoke again at a historic meeting at the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas.

During a brief discussion the two leaders agreed working-level talks should resume, but they still have not. “I have a very good relationship with Chairman Kim,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. “I always say having meetings is a good thing. We’ll see what happens.”

South Korean military officials say two projectiles were fired toward the sea at about 07:00 local time on Tuesday.

The projectiles were launched towards the east from Kaechon in South Pyongan province and travelled about 330km (205 miles). A national security council meeting was held in response. A senior US official told reporters they were aware of the latest reports.