A senior U.S. diplomat on Sunday urged North Korea to refrain from additional missile tests and resume nuclear diplomacy, days after the North fired off its first underwater-launched ballistic missile in two years.
Sung Kim, the U.S. envoy on North Korea, spoke after meeting with South Korean officials to discuss North Korea's recent missile tests while nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang remain stalled.
Last Tuesday, North Korea fired a newly developed ballistic missile from a submarine in its fifth round of weapons tests in recent weeks. Missiles fired from submarines are harder to detect in advance and would provide North Korea with a secondary, retaliatory attack capability. Kim's South Korean counterpart, Noh Kyu-duk, said the two had an "in-depth" discussion on Seoul's push for a symbolic declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War as a way to bring peace. Noh said he and Kim also reaffirmed that North Korea's issues of concern can be discussed once talks are restarted.
But North Korea says a return to talks is conditional on the U.S. dropping what it calls hostile policy, an apparent reference to the sanctions and regular military drills between Washington and Seoul.