South Korea leader sees more obstacles ahead to disarm North Korea

Visitors pose in front of ribbons placed on a barbed wire fence with messages wishing for the reunification of the two Koreas at the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Wednesday, March 7, 2018. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president says many “critical moments” still lie ahead to end the nuclear crisis despite North Korea’s recent outreach to Seoul and Washington.

Moon Jae-in spoke on Thursday morning before two senior Seoul officials were to head to the United States to brief officials about the outcome of their recent visit to North Korea.

The Seoul officials said North Korea offered talks with the United States over normalizing ties and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Seoul said the North also agreed to suspend nuclear and missile tests during such future talks.

Some experts question how sincere North Korea is about its reported offers.

Moon says there are “many critical moments that we still have to go through before reaching the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a permanent peace.”  /muf