Washington-Pyongyang talks ‘going well’: Seoul envoy

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - A top South Korean official claimed Friday that Washington and Pyongyang negotiations were "going well,” according to media reports.

Seoul’s special representative for Korean Peninsula and security affairs, Lee Do-hoon, returned from Europe where he attended meetings with his North Korean counterparts and U.S. officials.

“Various formats of consultations are proceeding well,” Korean news agency Yonhap quoted Lee referring to the talks in Sweden.

North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and U.S. Special Representative Stephen Biegun met on the outskirts of Stockholm last week.

The entire mood was good. (After talks) everybody said goodbye with a smile,” Lee told reporters in Seoul. “So North Korea-U.S. dialogue and (talks) between South and North Korea are expected to fare well.”

Lee, however, expressed ignorance about a date of a scheduled second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

On Jan. 18, Kim’s deputy Kim Yong Chol led a delegation to Washington where he met Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The two sides agreed to hold a presidential-level second summit.

The summit aims at fastening the process of denuclearization of Korean peninsula while Pyongyang is seeking lifting of UN sanctions.

In June 2018, Trump and Kim held a historic summit, reaching an agreement, which critics have said is overly vague and has failed to produce meaningful progress in ridding North Korea of its nuclear arsenal.