North Korea's Ri Yong-ho says North is not in situation to respond to Seoul's request for foreign ministers' meeting: official
  • 6 years ago
minister Kang Kyung-wha has had a busy morning. But there was one meeting that did not happen.
For more, we have on the line our foreign ministry correspondent Lee Ji-won, who is at the island state for us.
Ji-won what do you have for us?

Jang-ho, overnight, we heard that the much anticipated meeting between the foreign ministers of the two Koreas will not happen.
A South Korean official told reporters last night, that North Korea's foreign minister Ri Yong-ho told Minister Kang at the gala dinner yesterday that the North is not in a situation to respond to that request.
The official said the two ministers talked for a long time,... and that Minister Ri explained to Kang in detail the reason for this decision, which the official did not disclose.
Meanwhile, Minister Kang started today by talking with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The two diplomats exchanged their views on the latest developments between the two Koreas and between North Korea and the U.S.
They also agreed that, despite the complexity of solving Pyongyang's nuclear issue,... Seoul and Washington will continue working closely together to carry out the deals each signed by their leaders with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, namely the Panmunjom Declaration and the June 12th Joint Statement
Minister Kang also relayed Seoul's stance on other issues, including the ongoing negotiations with the U.S. on sharing defense costs.
Pompeo said he understands South Korea's stance and said he will make necessary discussions with related ministries.
Reporters asked the State Secretary whether he plans to meet with the North today,... but he did not respond.
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