Pompeo meets S. Korean FM on DPRK denuclearization

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (R) meets with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha at the U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C., the United States, on Dec. 6, 2018. Mike Pompeo met with Kang Kyung-wha here on Thursday, discussing the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, said the U.S. State Department. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha here on Thursday, discussing the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, said the U.S. State Department.

The two sides agreed to maintain close coordination and insisted on "the final, fully verified denuclearization" of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said Heather Nauert, spokesperson of the U.S. State Department, in a statement.

Negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington saw little progress in the past few months, as differences between the two sides remained over the scale of denuclearization, U.S. sanctions, and whether to issue a war-ending declaration.

A planned high-level meeting between Pompeo and a senior DPRK official in New York was cancelled, citing scheduling issue.

Meanwhile, the momentum for talks continued. U.S. President Donald Trump revealed earlier this month that his second meeting with DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un was likely to happen in January or February next year.

The first-ever Kim-Trump meeting occurred in Singapore last June, followed by a joint statement in which the United States agreed to provide security guarantee to the DPRK in return for Pyongyang's commitment to denuclearization.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said earlier this month that China encourages the United States and the DPRK to advance denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.