South Korea’s top nuclear envoy says North Korea and the United States need to produce an “early harvest” when they resume denuclearization talks.

Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon made the remark at an international academic conference in Seoul on Thursday, emphasizing that swift outcomes, small or big, are needed to silence criticism about diplomatic engagement to denuclearize the North. 

Although the second summit between North Korea and the U.S. broke down without a deal, he said the two countries were able to exchange their respective stances through lengthy talks. 

Lee said some progress was made on certain issues to the point the two countries could almost reach an agreement. 

He, however, pointed out that meaningful working-level negotiations to build on such progress was not being made, and a lack of working-level discussions and coordination was also to blame for the collapse of the Hanoi summit.