Moscow, Feb 11 (Agency) US Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim held bilateral and trilateral talks with South Korean counterpart Noh Kyu-duk and the head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Takehiro Funakoshi, local media reported. “We had a very good discussion, very detailed, substantive discussion about recent developments,” Sung told reporters on Thursday, as quoted by South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The partners understand the importance of trilateral cooperation on all aspects of North Korea policy, Sung noted, adding that parties discussed the seriousness of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and several ways to engage with Pyongyang. According to the agency, the top nuclear envoys meeting serves as a preview of trilateral Saturday foreign ministerial talks between South Korea, Japan, and the US. On January 13, North Korea launched a Hwasong-12 ballistic missile with a range of 4,500 kilometers (2,796 miles), making it the longest-range missile tested by Pyongyang since 2017. The launch was North Korea’s seventh this year.