Koreas skip weekly liaison office meeting for 10th straight week

SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- A weekly meeting of the liaison office chiefs of South and North Korea failed to take place for the 10th consecutive week on Friday, the unification ministry said, amid a deadlock in the North's nuclear negotiations with the United States.

The weekly meeting at the North's border town of Kaesong has not been held since the collapse of the Hanoi summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in February.

"After consultations between the South and the North, we decided not to hold a meeting of the liaison office chiefs," Lee Eugene, the ministry's deputy spokeswoman, told a regular press briefing.

Inter-Korean relations have warmed significantly since last year, but further improvement has stalled due to the lack of progress in denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington.

North Korea has recently stepped up its criticism of the South, urging Seoul to push for inter-Korean projects regardless of sanctions.

scaaet@yna.co.kr
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