South Korea and the United States share the understanding that their latest talks on North Korea policy are not the same as a now-defunct dialogue channel under the former Moon Jae-in government, a foreign ministry official said Wednesday.
The official made the remarks after the unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs decided not to join Tuesday's dialogue between the foreign ministry and relevant U.S. agencies, saying the talks could hinder Seoul's peace efforts toward Pyongyang.
The rift between the two ministries has emerged after several former unification ministers issued a statement claiming that the talks with the U.S. mirror the "working group" channel that operated in 2017-19 and that it would only serve as a stumbling block in efforts to improve inter-Korean relations.
The working group was launched with an aim to coordinate on matters related to the sanctions in place against Pyongyang in order to expedite the process for inter-Korean exchanges and other cooperation.
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