S. Korea, US top diplomats discuss Trump's planned visit

The top diplomats of South Korea and the US held phone over American President Donald Trump's visit to Seoul later this month and the situation on the Korean Peninsula, officials here said on Monday.

During her visit to Russia on Sunday night (Moscow time), South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha spoke by phone with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and shared the view that Trump's trip to South Korea will be "a crucial opportunity to discuss ways on the complete denuclearization and the settlement of permanent peace on the peninsula".

Kang and Pompeo also agreed to continue close consultations on the peninsula issues, sharing the need for consultations on situations in the Middle East, including the attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said in a statement cited by Yonhap news agency.

Trump is scheduled to visit Seoul on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 28-29.

The denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington have been stalled after the second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Trump ended with no agreement in late February in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

--IANS

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