S. Korea Vice FinMin: Sino-US competition could affect nuclear negotiations with N.Korea - Yonhap

In a speech for an academic forum in Seoul, which was read out by its organizer and cited by Yonhap, South Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young voiced concerns that an escalating US-China strategic competition could affect nuclear negotiations between the US and North Korea that are likely to resume later this month.

Key Quotes:

"Should the strategic competition between the United States and China intensify further, this could affect the negotiations between the North and the U.S."

"South Korea's genuine role as a facilitator at every critical moment of the North-U.S. negotiations will be needed more than at any time."

Last Sunday, the US President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met over an impromptu meeting at the Demilitarized Zone and agreed to resume working-level nuclear talks that were on a month-long hiatus.