South Korea urging Biden to prioritize denuclearization talks with North

South Korea is urging President-elect Joe Biden to prioritize denuclearization talks with North Korea. 

South Korea’s foreign minister, Kang Kyung-wha, met with some of Biden’s allies in Washington after arriving to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Reuters reported, adding that she urged the Biden administration to pay “summit-level” attention to the issue. 

“I highlighted the need to reinforce diplomatic efforts to achieve the goal of completely denuclearizing the Korean peninsula given the urgency of the North Korean nuclear issue,” she said, according to Reuters.

“I put a particular emphasis on the importance of a swift restart of U.S.-North Korea dialogue … as an issue that requires a priority, summit-level interests,” she added.

President Trump held two summits with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, and also met with Kim at the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea. 

Their first summit ended with a declaration that the nations would work toward denuclearization. The second concluded without a concrete deal, and efforts to revive talks have faltered since then.

North Korea resumed missile testing and has continued improving its missile and nuclear arsenals. Earlier in October, it unveiled a massive new intercontinental ballistic missile at a military parade.

Biden said in October during the third presidential debate that he would meet with Kim under the condition that “he would be drawing down his nuclear capacity.”