The United States omitted any mention of North Korea’s denuclearization in its readout of a call between South Korea’s Cho Hyun and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, prompting speculation that Washington is leaving room for renewed talks with Pyongyang. Seoul said the two sides discussed peace on the Korean Peninsula and the North Korean nuclear issue, while Cho said South Korea would work to help U.S. President Donald Trump’s messages lead to resumed U.S.-North Korea dialogue. The U.S. side issued a shorter readout that referred only to close coordination in the alliance. South Korean officials said their position on denuclearization has not changed.
This image shows U.S. President Donald Trump's Truth Social post, uploaded Monday, of a captionless photo of Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un walking in Panmunjeom on June 30, 2019 during their bilateral summit. Captured from Truth Social
The United States conspicuously omitted any reference to "the denuclearization of North Korea" from its readout of a phone call between the top diplomats of South Korea and the U.S., raising speculation that Washington is creating diplomatic room for renewed engagement with Pyongyang.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by phone Monday to discuss a range of bilateral issues, with both sides stressing the need for close coordination between the allies. The two governments, however, differed notably in how they described discussions on North Korea.
