S. Korea, US vow peaceful solution to N.Korean issue

SEOUL - 17 November 2017: The top nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States reaffirmed Friday that they are seeking a "peaceful" way to resolve North Korea's nuclear stalemate and vowed to keep their joint campaign of pressure to bring Pyongyang to talks on its denuclearization.

The reaffirmation came after Lee Do-hoon, South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, and his US counterpart, Joseph Yun, met on the southern resort island of Jeju to discuss their coordinated approach towards the North's nuclear and missile threats, Yonhap news agency reported.

The meeting followed a summit between their leaders -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump in Seoul last week.

After finishing a meeting that lasted for more than a hour, Yun told reporters there is no doubt that both of the presidents want to find a peaceful way in regard to North Korea's nuclear issue, so we discussed them and we agreed the pressure campaign has to be a central element.

He noted that the common policy between Seoul and Washington against the North is to attain its denuclearization and rally global support for putting pressure on the reclusive state to engage in a "meaningful" and "credible" dialogue.

"We have been engaged with countries like China, Russia, as well as Japan and the EU, aimed at getting pressure on North Korea to have a meaningful and credible dialogue with us so that they can take steps towards the denuclearization," he added.

Answering a question seeking comments on a planned visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy to North Korea, Yun hoped that it would help "forward" the goal of its denuclearization.

In a press statement, the South Korean foreign ministry said that Lee and Yun agreed to meet again "as soon as possible" to discuss detailed follow-up measures based on the talks that they had here.