Seoul discusses N. Korea issue with US

Seoul, Aug 14 (IANS) South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday met visiting top US General Joseph Dunford to discuss the North Korea issue.

Moon met at the Blue House for about 50 minutes with the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff who arrived here late on Sunday, Xinhua news agency quoted Presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun as saying.

Dunford met South Korean Defence Minister Song Young-moo before visiting the presidential office.

Moon said during the meeting that the security situation on the Korean peninsula got graver than ever due to the advanced nuclear and missile capability of North Korea that became a serious and real threat.

North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile twice in July, lofting the Hwasong-14 as high as over 3,700 km and flying it as far as about 1,000 km in the latest test-launch.

Moon said Pyongyang should stop provocation and rapidly come to the dialogue table to defuse tensions on the peninsula, and shared the view that any more North Korean provocation should be strongly addressed based on the firm South Korea-US alliance.

Dunford agreed that the recent series of missile provocation by North Korea led to grave security situations on the peninsula, saying no change was made in the US commitment to the defence of South Korea.

He said the US forces' priority was to support its government's diplomatic and economic pressure efforts for the denuclearised peninsula, noting that military options were being prepared for the failed efforts.

The top General said the US response and measures would be taken in close cooperation with South Korea, adding that everybody wanted this situation resolved without a war.