South Korea, U.S. set to launch talks on North Korea policy
Published: 16 Dec. 2025, 08:51
![U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hold hands during a summit at the Panmunjom truce village along the inter-Korean border on June 30, 2019. [RODONG SINMUN]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/12/16/c1329042-23d8-4fda-b090-4b553bb08b18.jpg)
U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hold hands during a summit at the Panmunjom truce village along the inter-Korean border on June 30, 2019. [RODONG SINMUN]
South Korea and the United States were set to hold talks Tuesday to coordinate their North Korea policy, sources said, an effort that appears clouded by discord between relevant ministries in Seoul.
The consultative meeting marks the first such talks between the allies on North Korea issues since the liberal Lee Jae Myung government took office in June, as Seoul seeks to improve stalled inter-Korean ties and help resume dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang despite the North's repeated rejection of overtures.
Tuesday's meeting will be led by Jeong Yeon-doo, vice minister for diplomatic strategy and intelligence at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and acting U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Kevin Kim.
The Foreign Ministry said earlier that the meeting will be a broad discussion on North Korea-related policy, including ways to reengage with the reclusive state. The ministry said it aims to make the dialogue channel run on a regular basis.
The meeting, however, comes at a time when the Ministry of Unification, which handles inter-Korean affairs, has raised objections to the dialogue led by the foreign ministry and the United States, arguing that it could undermine the prospects for restoring ties with Pyongyang.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young and several other Cabinet members have reportedly expressed concern that the dialogue channel could go down the same path as the bilateral "working group" run by Seoul and Washington during the Moon Jae-in government from 2018-21.
The working group was launched in November 2018 to enable close and timely coordination between the allies on North Korea-related issues, ranging from denuclearization and sanctions to inter-Korean cooperation. The Moon government had also invested heavily in rapprochement with Pyongyang and in facilitating nuclear talks between the North and the United States.
But the working group increasingly came to be seen as a monitoring mechanism that hindered Seoul's peace efforts toward the North, as discussions prioritized compliance with international sanctions against Pyongyang.
Considering its role in inter-Korean issues, the Unification Ministry has participated in key bilateral consultations with the United States on North Korea.
On Monday, the Unification Ministry said it will not attend Tuesday's meeting and will have its own talks with the United States on North Korea policy when necessary.
The Foreign Ministry said the talks also serve as a follow-up to the agreements outlined in a joint summit fact sheet, in which the two countries committed to close consultations on North Korea issues.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)