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Tuesday, March 19, 2019, 14:04
DPRK: Special envoy to visit Britain as US to 're-engage'
By Xinhua
Tuesday, March 19, 2019, 14:04 By Xinhua

US Special Representative for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Stephen Biegun arrives to the United States Mission to the United Nations for a meeting in New York, March 14, 2019. Biegun will travel to Britain on March 19 to discuss denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, the US Department of State said on March 18. (SETH WENIG / AP)

WASHINGTON — The US Special Representative for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Stephen Biegun will travel to Britain on Tuesday to discuss denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, the US Department of State said on Monday. 

We'll re-engage with him (Kim Jong-un). It's incredibly important that we take down the threat not only for America and for Kansas, but for the entire world.

Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state

This comes after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on the same day that the United States will "re-engage" with DPRK's top leader Kim Jong-un over issues of mutual concern. 

Pompeo made the remarks in an interview with B98 FM, a radio station of the US state of Kansas via teleconference.

"We believe we're still moving forward. It's certainly difficult - we knew it would be. It's been a decades-long challenge," he said, according to the interview transcript circulated by the State Department. 

He also said they had "made a little bit more progress in Hanoi," referring to the second summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim which ended without an agreement on Feb 28.

"We'll re-engage with him. It's incredibly important that we take down the threat not only for America and for Kansas, but for the entire world," said Pompeo.

In a separate interview with other local Kansas media outlets on the same day, also via teleconference, Pompeo said that the US-DPRK engagement over the Korean Peninsula denuclearization is "a long journey."

"It's going to be difficult. To convince North Korea to give up their nuclear weapons took a great deal of work," he said, adding that "the effort continues because it's important."

The DPRK is also referred to as North Korea.

Speaking of the reasons why the Hanoi summit ended with an agreement, Pompeo said that "it's clearly a range of issues around timing and sequencing and how it is we achieve this."

"President Trump's commitment ... has to follow the verified denuclearization of North Korea. And getting that sequencing right and getting it laid out in a way that each of the parties can agree to and take down the tension level along the North and South Korean border, it matters to ... our important partners, and it matters to the whole world," he said.

South Korea is also referred to as the Republic of Korea.

On Friday, DPRK Vice-Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui blamed the US side for the failure of the Hanoi summit, saying the talks failed because the US side lacked sincerity.

Biegun will travel to London March 19 to meet with UK, French, and German counterparts to discuss coordinated efforts to advance the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea.

US Department of State

Separately, Pompeo said that Washington is still hopeful for continued talks with Pyongyang, confirming that there is ongoing negotiation between the two sides. 

Following Pompeo's Monday interview, the Department of State said in a brief statement that "Biegun will travel to London March 19 to meet with UK, French, and German counterparts to discuss coordinated efforts to advance the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea."

Other parties concerned have tried to promote the US-DPRK dialogue. 

ROK's presidential Blue House said Sunday that both the DPRK and the United States "never" wanted to go back to the past confrontation and tension.

Though Kim and Trump failed to reach an agreement in Hanoi, both Pyongyang and Washington made clear their willingness to continue diplomacy and negotiations, the Blue House noted, adding that the ROK government will make best efforts to help resume the DPRK-US negotiations as soon as possible in close cooperation with the United States while encouraging the DPRK to stay in the dialogue track.

READ MORE: ROK to push for military talks with DPRK this year

In China, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Geng Shuang, said Monday that China hopes the DPRK and the United States would cherish the hard-won momentum of dialogue and keep talking until a peaceful denuclearized Korean Peninsula is realized.     

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