South Korea and the United States are planning to establish a joint working group by next month aimed at discussing North Korea’s denuclearization.

A high-ranking official of the Foreign Ministry in Seoul told reporters about the plan on Wednesday, hours after Washington announced an agreement with Seoul to launch the new consultation body. 

Noting that the two allies had been holding talks on the matter for several months, the official made clear they were not trying to put pressure on the North but were focused on raising the efficiency of denuclearization-related negotiations. 

The working group is expected to follow a top-down process and deal with the details of agreements reached between top leaders of the two countries. 

The official added South Korea’s Foreign Ministry and the U.S. State Department will manage the working group under the leadership of the two countries’ nuclear envoys while other government agencies may also join.