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Suh Hoon, director of South Korea’s National Security Office shakes hands with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Tuesday in Washington. (provided by the Blue House National Security Office)

The US White House has reaffirmed that it has no hostile policy toward North Korea, the Director of South Korea's National Security Office Suh Hoon said Tuesday while in Washington.

The comment came in a news release after a consultation with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that afternoon that lasted over an hour.

"Both sides said they have held close consultations on North Korea without interruption since the US formulated its policy toward North Korea, including diplomatic efforts of varying levels between Seoul and Washington," Suh said. "The US reaffirmed that it sincerely has no hostile policy toward North Korea and reemphasized its stance of being open to talks at any time without preconditions."

"The two sides decided to closely cooperate in specific plans to engage North Korea," Suh added.

These talks took place the same day that North Korea's official daily the Rodong Sinmun reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gave a lecture at the defense development exhibition "Self-Defense 2021." The paper quoting him as saying, "Recently, the United States has frequently sent signals that it is not hostile to our state, but its behaviours provide us with no reason why we should believe in them.”

As the content of Kim's speech likely came up — if only at a rudimentary level — during the meeting between Suh and Sullivan, the reiteration by South Korea and the US of having no hostility toward the North and their offer of dialogue at any time without preconditions essentially functioned as a response to Kim's statement.

In particular, use of the phrase reaffirming US’ “sincerity" in the press release is noteworthy and has been interpreted as intending to stress that Washington is not merely making empty comments toward Pyongyang.

A spokesperson of the US State Department answered a reporter's question on Kim's lecture by saying the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula remains a US goal and reiterating that Washington harbors no hostility toward Pyongyang.

The spokesperson added that the US is ready to talk to North Korea without preconditions and engage in serious and continuous diplomacy, and expressed hope that the North will respond positively to US attempts to contact it.

By Hwang Joon-bum, staff reporter

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