Nuke envoys of ROK, US hold phone talks on peninsula issue

SEOUL - Nuclear envoys of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States held phone talks early Thursday on the Korean Peninsula issue, according to Seoul's foreign ministry.

Noh Kyu-duk, ROK's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, talked via phone with Sung Kim, US special representative for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) policy.

The phone talks came about two weeks after the US envoy made a five-day visit to Seoul. During his trip, Sung Kim said the United States can meet with the DPRK "anywhere, anytime without preconditions."

Denuclearization talks between the DPRK and the United States have been stalled since the second summit between top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un and former US President Donald Trump ended without agreement in February 2019 in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.