North Korea willing to hold talks with US

Pyeongchang: North Korea is willing to hold talks with the United States on a range of Korean Peninsula issues including Pyongyang's nuclear development program, a ranking North Korean official told South Korean President Moon Jae-in.  

Kim Yong Chol, a senior official of the North's ruling Worker's Party in charge of inter-Korean relations, made the remarks at a meeting on Sunday with Moon in Pyeongchang, the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Moon's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae announced the overture in a statement picked up by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

"President Moon pointed out that U.S.-North Korea dialogue must be held at an early date ... for an improvement in the South-North Korea relationship and the fundamental resolution of Korean Peninsula issues," Moon spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said.

Kim Eui-kyeom said Moon specifically pointed out the need to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. "The North Korean delegation, too, agreed that North Korea-U.S. relations must develop along with the South-North Korea relationship," Kim Eui-kyeom said.