US envoy expects Washington, Pyongyang ‘will be able to continue close engagement’

11 Mar, 2019 16:11 / Updated 5 years ago

The US special representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, said on Monday that “diplomacy is still very much alive” with Pyongyang, despite the collapse of a summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last month. However, Beigun, speaking at a nuclear conference in Washington, said gaps remain between the two sides and North Korea must show it is fully committed to elimination of its nuclear weapons. “It’s certainly our expectation that we will be able to continue our close engagement,” he said, while offering no specifics on when new talks might be held, Reuters reports. Biegun said the US did not know whether Kim would decide to conduct a new missile launch but reiterated Trump’s assertion that he would be disappointed if North Korea were to resume testing.