Seoul, Washington agree to end "working group" forum on Pyongyang policy

South Korea and the United States have agreed to consider ending a "working group" forum on policy coordination toward North Korea, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, in an apparent conciliatory gesture toward Pyongyang, which has denounced the forum as an obstacle to inter-Korean relations.

Noh Kyu-duk, Seoul's top nuclear envoy, and his US counterpart, Sung Kim, reached the agreement during their talks in Seoul on Monday, where they discussed a coordinated strategy for resuming nuclear diplomacy with Pyongyang.

"During the talks between the South Korean and US nuclear envoys, the two sides examined the existing working group and agreed to consider its termination," the ministry said in a text message sent to reporters. She added that the two sides agreed to enhance consultations at the Director-General level as well as dialogue between the main nuclear negotiators. Regarding the alternative working group forum, First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun referred to an inclusive political dialogue involving director-general-level diplomats from the two countries. During a parliamentary session, Choe said that the ministry's staff of the Korean Peninsula Peace Affairs Office, as well as the US deputy special envoy for North Korea, could participate. "The overall coordination between the south and the United States is very important," he said. Even if the working group disappears, this does not mean suspending that coordination.”

A State Department official later said Seoul and Washington shared the understanding that despite the working group's positive functions, it had "negative effects" as well, without elaborating.

Earlier in the day, Lim Kap-soo, director general of the ministry's office of the Korean Peninsula Peace System, and Jong-bak, deputy US special envoy for North Korea, met to discuss the way forward in light of the decision on the working group.

The thought of ending the forum, which was denounced by North Korea, comes at a time when Seoul and Washington are seeking to find new momentum to resume dialogue with the North. The top US nuclear envoy said on Monday that US President Joe Biden's administration has offered to meet with North Korea "at any time and anywhere without preconditions," adding that it is looking forward to a positive response from Pyongyang.

Seoul and Washington set up the working group in November 2018 to coordinate policies on North Korea's denuclearization, humanitarian aid, sanctions enforcement, and inter-Korean relations. The aim of launching the forum was to avoid any disagreement between them in their policies towards the North that could hinder communication with Pyongyang. Since then, the group has dealt with providing Tamiflu and other aid to the north, approving business visits to the north to visit the now-closed joint industrial complex.

But North Korea has criticized the working group as an obstacle to rapid inter-Korean exchanges. South Korea's ruling Democratic Party also criticized the group, with former party chairman Lee Nak-yeon expressing his hope to reconsider its feasibility, claiming that its "interference" impeded inter-Korean cooperation. Unification Minister Lee In-young also spoke of the need for "adjustments" in the working group's operations.