A high-ranking delegation led by Kim Yong Chol(C), vice chairman of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, arrives at the inter-Korean transit office in Paju, South Korea, on Feb. 25, 2018. (Xinhua/Newsis)
The White House said on Sunday that the United States, South Korea and the international community broadly agree that denuclearization must be the result of dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
In a statement, the White House said "the maximum pressure campaign must continue" until Pyongyang denuclearizes.
The White House said there is a brighter path available for Pyongyang if it chooses denuclearization. "We will see if Pyongyang's message today, that it is willing to hold talks, represents the first steps along the path to denuclearization."
The White House said the United States and the world must continue to make clear that the DPRK nuclear and missile programs are a dead end.
It said it is "committed to achieving the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
South Korea's presidential Blue House said earlier on Sunday that the high-ranking delegation from the DPRK showed Pyongyang's willingness to talk with the United States.
According to Presidential Spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said in a closed-door meeting with the DPRK delegation that dialogue between the DPRK and the United States should be rapidly held to fundamentally resolve the Korean Peninsula issues and improve ties between South Korea and the DPRK.
The DPRK delegation told Moon that Pyongyang had enough willingness to hold talks with the United States, saying Pyongyang shared Moon's view that relations between the two Koreas and those between the DPRK and the United States should make progress together.
The DPRK delegation, led by Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, crossed the heavily guarded inter-Korean border via land route and moved by bullet train to PyeongChang, where the closing ceremony of the 23rd Winter Olympics was held to wrap up the 17-day winter sports competition.
During a telephone conversation in January, Moon and U.S. President Donald Trump shared the possibility for inter-Korean talks naturally leading to dialogue between the DPRK and the United States.
Since top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un said in his New Year's address that his country was willing to participate in the Winter Olympics, a senior-level dialogue between the two Koreas was held in over two years in the truce village of Panmunjom. The DPRK sent its athletes, cheerleaders and artists to the South Korea-hosted winter sports event.
