Top diplomats of South Korea and the United States are set to meet and hold talks in Washington DC on Friday (March 29), during which the topic of North Korea's denuclearisation is expected to figure.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo are scheduled to meet after the former attends a UN ministerial meeting on peacekeeping in New York on the same day, South Korea's foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
This will be the first meeting of the two foreign ministers after last month's summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam, ended in a stalemate with no agreement reached.
Despite the breakdown of the second US-North Korea summit, Trump had maintained that the relationship with the elusive state continues to be "good".
Ties between the US and North Korea have hit a roadblock over the ease of sanctions, where Pyongyang sought relief as a recognition of the steps taken towards denuclearisation.
Washington has, until now, reinforced that relief in sanctions would only be given after the communist country carries out "complete and verifiable" denuclearisation.
On March 14, officials from South Korea and the US met in Washington DC and discussed ways to dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, amid a layer of sanctions imposed on the communist country.
The US-South Korea working group met for the first time after the Hanoi summit took place.
The two sides "shared updates on efforts to achieve our shared goal of final, fully verified denuclearisation, including through the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions," US State Department deputy spokesperson Robert Palladino had said.
They also "reaffirmed their commitment to continue regularly hosting these consultations and coordination as alliance partners," he had added.
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