South Korea President Moon Jae-in on Monday urged the US and North Korea to quickly resume denuclearization talks after their Hanoi summit last week ended without a deal.

Moon, who has adopted a dovish approach to Pyongyang and brokered the US-North Korea talks process, urged his officials to find out what exactly had gone awry at the high-stakes meeting, and predicted a deal would ultimately be reached.

“We hope that both countries will continue their dialogue and that their leaders meet again quickly to reach an agreement that was held off this time,” Moon said during a security meeting in Seoul.

“While I believe the North-US talks will produce an agreement in the end, I ask officials to work hard for the resumption of working-level talks between the US and the North as it is not favorable to have a long absence or stalemate in talks.”

The second meeting between US President Donald Trump and the North’s Kim Jong Un broke up in disarray Thursday in the Vietnamese capital, without even a joint statement.

Trump said at a press conference after the summit that the North Koreans had wanted sanctions against Pyongyang “lifted in their entirety”.

Source: AFP