DPRK willing to talk with US for denuclearization, agrees on summit with ROK

SEOUL - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) showed willingness to hold talks with the United States about issues, including the denuclearized Korean Peninsula, and agreed on the third summit meeting with the Republic of Korea (ROK) next month, the Blue House of ROK said Tuesday.

Chung Eui-yong, top national security adviser for ROK President Moon Jae-in, told a televised press briefing that the DPRK side expressed its willingness to talk candidly with the United States about the denuclearization issue and normalized ties between Pyongyang and Washington.

The DPRK confirmed its will to denuclearize the peninsula, making it clear that if military threat toward the country is removed and its regime safety is guaranteed, the DPRK has no reason to possess its nuclear program, the senior Blue House official said.

Chung returned home earlier in the day after making a two-day visit to Pyongyang, where he met top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un on Monday night together with four other special envoys, including Suh Hoon, director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), ROK's spy agency.

As long as dialogues continue, the DPRK will conduct no strategic provocation, including a nuclear test and ballistic missile test launches, without fail, while using no weapons, both conventional and nuclear, toward the ROK.

The first and second inter-Korean summit meetings were held in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007 respectively.

Working-level talks for preparations for the third meeting between the leaders of the two Koreas will be held going forward.

The two sides also agreed to set up a hotline between the leaders to ease military tensions and closely coordinate. The first talks through the hotline will be held before the summit scheduled for late April.