Chung urges diplomacy to spur North Korea-U.S. talks

Jan. 15 (Asia Today) -- Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Thursday called for "proactive and creative" diplomacy to help restart North Korea-U.S. talks, saying progress in South Korea's ties with China and Japan should feed into planned U.S.-China talks in April and, in turn, encourage dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang. Chung made the remarks at the second meeting of the Korean Peninsula Peace Strategy Advisory Group, a consultative body of inter-Korean relations experts, held at the Inter-Korean Talks Headquarters, the Ministry of Unification said. "To make this year the first year of peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula, we must build on the outcomes of the South Korea-China and South Korea-Japan summits to drive a North Korea-U.S. summit by connecting them to the U.S.-China summit in April," Chung said, according to the ministry. Chung also said the government would continue efforts to ease tensions and build trust between the two Koreas, citing what he described as a swift response to a recent drone incident. Participants at the meeting suggested expanding high-level communication with neighboring countries to support peace on the Korean Peninsula. They also discussed ways to use the current situation, in which indirect communication with North Korea has been established following the drone incident, to help restore inter-Korean channels, the ministry said. The meeting included 16 experts, including former Unification Minister Chung Sye-hyun and Kim Yeon-chul, chair of the Korea Peace Forum, the ministry said. -- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI © Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited. Read More Unification Ministry seeks control of research institute, staff wary LG AI Research leads Korea AI model review; Naver Cloud out U.S. Treasury warns won volatility out of line with Korea fundamentals

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