The U.S. has refused to confirm that South Korea and the U.S. had prior consultation on Seoul’s dialogue proposal to North Korea.
 
U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said during a regular news briefing on Tuesday that she could not reveal any diplomatic conversations took place.

[Sound bite: Heather Nauert -Spokesperson, U.S. State Department]
 "Overall we share the very same goal and that is a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. We both remain very concerned about the activities of the DPRK."

Nauert said that the U.S. had a terrific visit from President Moon Jae-in recently and that South Korea is an important partner with the U.S.

She added that the two sides hope to see the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea.
 
Earlier on Tuesday, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a regular news briefing that Seoul explained its proposal of inter-Korean talks to the U.S. and other major countries in advance and there was a sufficient understanding from both the U.S. other countries.