ROK to do all it can for successful DPRK-US talks: unification minister

SEOUL - ROK (The Republic of Korea)'s Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said Thursday that his country will do all it can for the successful working-level denuclearization talks between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States, which were expected to resume in the near future.

Kim made the remark at a ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the third summit in Pyongyang last September between ROK's President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un.

Citing the impromptu meeting on June 30 at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom between the leaders of the two Koreas and US President Donald Trump, the minister said the DPRK-US working-level talks would resume in the near future.

Choe Son-hui, the DPRK's first vice foreign minister, said earlier this month that the DPRK was willing to hold talks with the United States in late September to comprehensively discuss issues the two sides had taken up.

Kim said both Pyongyang and Washington would cherish the opportunity for the working-level dialogue though it would not be easy as the two sides are required to overcome a "wall of age-old distrust and confrontation".

The minister said that only when the DPRK and the United States make productive, reasonable negotiations based on sufficient trust, the DPRK would take a big step toward the denuclearization.

He said the South Korean government will do all it can for the DPRK-US working-level dialogue to bear good fruit, while closely communicating with the US side and opening communication channels between the two Koreas.