Seoul Views Inter-Korean Talks as Way to Pyongyang Denuclearization - Ministry
13:01 21.02.2018(updated 13:17 21.02.2018)
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Seoul views the inter-Korean talks as a key to the solution of the North Korean nuclear problem, South Korean Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
"We will push to enter into full-fledged dialogue while maintaining inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korea talks as major pillars… We will seek consensus from the international community on the need to create a virtuous cycle, in that improving inter-Korean relations could translate into finding a solution to the North's nuclear problem," the ministry was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency.
In January, Seoul and Pyongyang resumed bilateral talks after North Korean leader Kin Jong-Un ordered to restore a hotline prior to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
The two sides agreed that the national teams would march together under a "unification flag" at the opening ceremony.
Despite initial plans of the North to also send performers to the Olympics, Pyongyang canceled their participation in late January, citing the South Korean media, which, according to the North, was undermining the sincere efforts undertaken by the DPRK in connection with the Olympics.
The thaw on the Korean Peninsula followed a year of escalating tensions caused by the Pyongyang's missile and nuclear tests carried out in violation of the UN Security Council's resolutions.
Following the tests, the UN Security Council introduced several rounds of sanctions
, with the latest unanimously adopted last December. The sanctions limited North Korea's oil dealings to 4 billion barrels per year and made oil exporters working with the country report on their deliveries to the UN Security Council.
Pyongyang rejects the new sanctions, saying that the country's nuclear weapons are a self-defense deterrence against nuclear threats and blackmail by the US.
© Sputnik
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