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US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

Reports indicate that North Korea and the US are still in contact even after negotiations broke down during their Hanoi summit. The schedule of future negotiations – including a potential visit to North Korea by US State Department Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun – doesn’t seem to have been nailed down yet.

When asked during the regular press briefing on Mar. 5 whether the US has been in contact with North Korea since the Hanoi summit, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino said, “I’m not going to go into private diplomatic channels [. . .] I would say as a general principle, we remain in regular contact with the North Koreans.”

Palladino responded to a follow-up question about what this contact involved by saying, “I’m not going to go into specifics on private discussions. [. . .] We remain in regular contact with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” referring to North Korea by its official name.

“Progress was made at the Hanoi summit. Yes, we did not reach an agreement. But at the same time, we were able to exchange very detailed positions, and that has narrowed the gap on a number of issues. And we’ve also made clear where the United States and the world stand regarding denuclearization,” the deputy spokesperson added.

In response to a question about plans for continuing talks, Palladino said, “We’ve just returned from that trip, and we’re going to regroup and we’re going to drive forward” based on the progress achieved in Hanoi.

The day before, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was “hopeful” that he would “have a team [of negotiators] in Pyongyang in the next couple weeks.”

Referring to Pompeo’s comments, Palladino said, “He says ‘hope’ [. . .] We want to move [the negotiations] forward, absolutely. But I’ve got nothing to announce today.”

In response to a question about Biegun’s plans to visit North Korea, Palladino said there was “no travel to announce [. . .] yet.”

In related news, South Korean Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon is currently visiting the US to hear a detailed report of the second North Korea-US summit from the US standpoint and to discuss the next actions that should be taken. On Mar. 6, Lee will be meeting with his counterpart Biegun, who led the American contingent in the working-level talks with North Korea, for deliberations between the two countries’ top envoys in the North Korean nuclear talks.

During the meeting, the two sides will be exchanging assessments of the recent summit. Based on those assessments, Lee plans to discuss Seoul’s role as a mediator, including ways to resume North Korea-US dialogue as quickly as possible. Lee is also planning to emphasize the need for that during a meeting with White House officials.

Since Japan’s point man for the North Korean nuclear issue -- Kenji Kanasugi, director general of the Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau – is also in Washington, DC, there’s also the possibility of a meeting among the three countries’ top envoys on this issue.

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent, and Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]