Seoul, Feb 10 (UNI/Sputnik) South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressed on Thursday regrets over the fact that the United States and North Korea had not reached any progress during the 2019 talks in Hanoi.
“It would have been best if a ‘big deal’ had been reached at the Hanoi Summit. If that was too hard, however, I think a ‘small deal’ should have been sought to take a phased approach … It is very regrettable that the summit ended in ‘no deal’ when the continuation of dialogue should have been ensured at least,” Moon said, as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.
Moon believes that the talks between US President Joe Biden and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are a matter of time.
“Since dialogue is the only way to resolve problems, a meeting between President Biden and Chairman Kim is expected to take place eventually. It is just a matter of time,” the South Korean president said.
In 2018, during the first-ever meeting between leaders of North Korea and the US in Singapore, former President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un signed a joint agreement, marking the de-escalation of relations between the two countries. The two leaders met the following year in Hanoi to continue the negotiations but failed to reach a deal on the issues of sanctions.
The relations between the two countries have since tensed, with North Korea boosting its missile tests.
