Agencies, Seoul
Senior officials from Pyongyang visiting South Korea on Sunday said North Korea was open to talks with the United States, according to the South’s presidency, hours after the North accused Washington of trying to stir up conflict on the peninsula with new sanctions.
In Pyeongchang for the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics, the visiting delegation also said developments in relations between the two Koreas and between North Korea and the United States should go hand in hand, the South’s presidency said in a statement.
The delegation met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at an undisclosed location in the Olympic city. Responding to the meeting, the U.S. State Department said improved relations between South and North Korea hinged on resolving Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
“We are in close contact with the Republic of Korea about our unified response to North Korea. As President Moon stated, ‘the improvement of relations between North and South Korea cannot advance separately from resolving North Korea’s nuclear program,’” a State Department spokesman said.
Earlier a statement released by North Korean state media accused the United States of provoking confrontation on the Korean peninsula with Friday’s sanctions announcement.
Sunday’s closing ceremony was attended by Moon, the North Korean delegation, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, among other dignitaries.
Ivanka Trump, who is a senior White House adviser, had no interaction with the North Korean delegation, a senior U.S. administration official said. She met Moon on Friday as part of a weekend trip to lead the U.S. delegation to the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
The Olympics have given a boost to engagement between the two Koreas after more than a year of sharply rising tension over the North’s missile tests and its sixth and largest nuclear test in defiance of U.N. sanctions.
But the closing days of the Games were overshadowed by the U.S. announcement that it was imposing its largest package of sanctions aimed at getting North Korea to give up its nuclear and missile programs.
“Thanks to our supreme leadership’s noble love for the nation and strong determination for peace, long-awaited inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation have been realized and the Olympics took place successfully by the inter-Korean collaboration,” the North’s KCNA state news agency said, citing North Korea’s ministry of foreign affairs.
“On the eve of closing of the Olympics, United States is running amok to bring another dark cloud of confrontation and war over the Korean peninsula by announcing enormous sanctions against the DPRK,” it said, using the initials of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
