High-ranking S. Korean official believes N. Korea-U.S. talks will resume soon

김현종 "북미간 대화 곧 전개될 것 같은 인상 받아"

Washington's point man on North Korea Stephen Biegun met Seoul's Deputy National Security Advisor Kim Hyun-chong today before leaving Seoul.
From that meeting, Kim got the impression that the stalled N. Korea-U.S. nuclear talks will resume soon.
Our Park Hee-jun has the details.
It appears denuclearization talks between North Korea and the U.S. will resume soon,... says South Korea's Deputy National Security Advisor Kim Hyun-chong.
After meeting Washington's top envoy on North Korea Stephen Biegun in Seoul on Thursday,... he told reporters that's the impression he got from Biegun.
"I cannot reveal all the details from the more than an hour long talks we had, but I got the impression that dialogue between North Korea and the U.S. will resume soon. And I think that will go well."
And he reaffirmed that South Korea maintains a good, cooperative relationship on the matter with the U.S.
"South Korea and the U.S. are coordinating closely on the negotiations and the denuclearization process. The two sides will continue to work well together and will most likely share everything with each other thanks to the confidence Biegun and his counterpart Lee Do-hoon have in each other."
Even with Pyeongyang's statement the same day that appears to reject the possibility,... Kim said he believes they will start again.
He did not, however, elaborate on why.
But he did say that the U.S. appreciates South Korea's moderation to achieve its goal,... despite the North's continued harsh rhetoric toward the South.
According to Kim, Biegun also raised the issue of cooperation between Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo,... including South Korea and Japan's military intelligence sharing pact.
But again, no further details.
Meanwhile, Biegun, before leaving the country,... met with his South Korean counterpart Lee Do-hoon and Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul.
There had been hope that he might sit down with North Koreans at the demilitarized zone during his trip.
But there are no signs that he did.
Park Hee-jun, Arirang News.